Fruit importer Fyffes said this morning it is targeting 2008 adjusted earnings "in the order of €15 million ($20.2 million)".
This is at the upper end of a range indicated in a trading update in August. The company its cash balance at the end of the year was €33 million.
The Dublin-based company said it is targeting earnings of between €14 million and €18 million in 2009.
It said there has been a significant adverse movement in exchange rates in recent months as a result of the strengthening of the dollar, particularly in relation to sterling.
Fyffes said it expects further cost inflation in fruit and shipping costs and says these will only partly be offset by falling fuel costs. As a result the company is to seek "significant increases in selling prices in all key markets".
The targeted earnings exclude amortisation charges and the group's 40 per cent share of the results of Blackrock International Land.