Calavo Growers, Inc. has announced that it will file a Form 12b-25, Notification of Late Filing, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with regard to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023. Form 12b-25 will allow the Company an automatic extension of fifteen additional calendar days to file the Form 10-K, which was due on January 16, 2024. The Company plans to issue a press release announcing its earnings on the same day the Form 10-K is filed.
The Company’s internal audit process identified to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors certain matters that the Board of Directors determined after fiscal year end merited enhanced evaluation. The Board of Directors promptly established a Special Committee of the Board of Directors to evaluate these matters, and if it deemed appropriate, commence an investigation. The Special Committee, with the assistance of outside counsel, commenced an internal investigation into these matters.
As part of this internal investigation, the Special Committee determined that certain matters relating to the Company’s operations in Mexico merited further investigation in connection with the completion of the Company’s financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2023. The Special Committee is in the process of completing the first stage of this further investigation, which stage is designed to enable the Company to properly account for and disclose the matters subject to the further investigation. A second stage is intended to address remediation for issues discovered in the first stage of the further investigation. The Company needs further time given the first stage of the further investigation to prepare appropriate financial statement entries and disclosures for the Form 10-K. In addition, the Company requires additional time to complete its assessment of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures and any impact of these matters on its internal control over financial reporting.
The Company does not believe that any of the matters under investigation affect any previously issued financial statements. The Company is working diligently to complete this stage of the further investigation and the appropriate financial statement entries and disclosures so that the Form 10-K can be filed as soon as possible. The Company anticipates that it will be in a position to file the Form 10-K on or before the fifteenth calendar day following the required filing date as prescribed in SEC Rule 12b-25.
Preliminary Financial Results
The Company expects to report in the Form 10-K that net sales decreased approximately 18% to $972 million for the year ended October 31, 2023, compared to the year ended October 31, 2022, with gross profit as a percentage of revenue for full year fiscal 2023 modestly lower than the first nine-month period of fiscal 2023.
For more information: 
Julie Kegley
Calavo Growers, Inc.
Tel.: +1 310-622-8246
Email: calavo@finprofiles.com