July 11, 2006

 

PSF announces changes at the helm
 

 

Robert Manly, president and chief operating officer of Premium Standard Farms Inc. (PSF), the second largest vertically integrated pork processors in the United States, has resigned.  

 

John Meyer, currently PSF's chief executive officer, would take over as president. There are no plans to name a new chief operating officer.

 

Company veteran Calvin Held took on the position of vice president of process improvement at the company's Milan, Missouri, operation. 

 

Meyer said the restructuring would streamline the company's decision-making process and further its commitment to improving PSF's operational performance.

 

The changes would allow PSF to intensify its focus on operational improvements and cost structure efficiencies, Meyer said.

 

Held has served as vice president of processing operations since April 2004, and has been with the company for the past 14 years.

 

In his new role, Held would be focused on improving operational performance in all areas of the business and expand the company's operating margins and reduce its cost structure.

 

Vice president of corporate accounting and finance Blake Day took on the position of vice president of business development. Day would be responsible for helping to execute PSF's growth strategies.

 

Kansas City, Missouri-based Premium Standard Farms Inc. (PSF) announced plant expansions in January. The expansion would increase the hog processing capacity of its plant in Milan by 35 percent from 7,400 a head every day to a maximum of 10,000 head a day.

 

The company recently announced that although sales were down for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006, export volumes were up.

 

The company reported net sales for the fiscal 2006 fourth quarter at US$218.1 million, compared to US$249.8 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005. The company attributed lower sales to the expanded US meat supply which depressed hog prices.

 

Internationally, demand for PSF's products and increased utilisation of the company's plants both contributed to strong export volumes to countries such as Japan, Canada, and Mexico.

 

The company also plans to expand its development efforts in Latin America and China this year.