Chiquita Brands released financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2012 and announced restructuring activities designed to increase long-term profitability.

The company said that the restructuring will result in at least $60 million in annual savings, and that a focus on its core banana and salad businesses will be a key element to the plan.

Additionally, as part of the restructuring effort, Chiquita has formed a committee to oversee the search for a new chief executive officer to succeed Fernando Aguirre, who has been at the helm of the company for more than eight years.

"While weFernando Aguirre do not believe that Chiquita's second quarter results reflect the sustainable earnings potential of our business, our results exceeded our expectations, in spite of the significant impact from the dramatic reduction in the value of the euro and difficult pricing comparisons to 2011," Mr. Aguirre said in a press release. "Our banana business continues to be stable. Our sales volumes were at similar levels to the same period of 2011, but the product supply surcharge that was in place for 2011 in North America and the large and rapid decline in the value of the euro resulted in difficult pricing comparisons to 2011. In salads, although we had lower retail sales volumes than the year ago quarter, the volumes were higher than previously forecasted as we experienced increasing retail sales velocity on a same store basis, and we delivered cost reductions from 2011."

To support the goal of increasing profitability in its core businesses, Chiquita said that it would rebalance its structure by strategically transforming the company to a high-volume, lower-cost operator by better leveraging its economies of scale, iconic brand and core distribution, quality and customer service competencies.

As part of this strategic change, Chiquita will simplify and reduce its administrative and manufacturing overhead structure with the goal of achieving operating margins of 4 percent in bananas and 7-8 percent in salads over the next two to three years.

To facilitate the change in leadership, a top executive search firm has been retained to assist in identifying qualified candidates to fill the CEO position. Mr. Aguirre will remain as chairman and chief executive officer through the hiring and transition of a new CEO.

"It has been an honor to lead Chiquita for almost nine years," Mr. Aguirre said in the press release. "Chiquita's dedicated employees and management team have transitioned to Charlotte and launched its strategic transformation plan. Although the current economic times have been tough, I am confident that the company is well positioned to increase its financial performance and drive shareholder value. I remain one of the largest shareholders of the company and my main interest is to increase the value for all shareholders. I look forward to working with the board of directors to implement the restructuring and ensure a seamless leadership transition. The future is bright and the time has come to bring in new talent who can lead the company forward."

"On behalf of the board, we want to thank Fernando for his leadership, dedication and commitment over his almost nine years of service," Kerrii B. Anderson, Chiquita's lead independent director, said in the press release. "He has led us through thick and thin, expanding distributional channels, transforming the North American banana business, unlocking balance sheet value, divesting non-core assets, navigating through tough inherited litigation, reducing debt and consolidating our headquarters in the business conducive and growth oriented city of Charlotte. The board is committed to increasing shareholder value through the execution of Chiquita's transformational strategy. Given our change in strategy, Fernando and the board decided to conduct a thorough search to identify the best candidate to serve as Chiquita's next CEO and to jointly execute an effective and smooth leadership transition."