April 6, 2004

Swift Post $40 Million Losses Due To Mad Cow
 

Swift & Co. announced quarterly losses despite higher sales, as a result of $43 million of charges related to the discovery o fmad cow disease in the country.

For the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 22, the Greeley, Colorado-based company reported a loss of $40.7 million, including the charges, compared with a profit of $3.5 million, in the year-ago quarter. Sales climbed to $2.25 billion from $2.02 billion.

John N. Simons, president and chief executive of Swift, said in a statement that beef prices have fallen the first case of BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was discovered late last year.

Simons also said prices were hurt by imports of some Canadian beef since September last year.

Swifts said its loss in beef operations increased to $82.3 million from a loss of $11.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. It said better prices for pork helped offset losses in its beef operations during the quarter.