August 2, 2012

Maple Leaf's adjusted operating earnings slide 7% in Q2

At US$71,787,731, adjusted operating earnings for Maple Leaf Foods is down 7% in the second quarter of 2012, as compared to CAD77,536,000 (US$77.19 million), or CAD0.30 (US$0.30) per share, during the same quarter of 2011.

Sales for the quarter was US$1,258,544,747, up 2% from CAD1,238,201,000 (US$1.2 billion) during the same quarter of the previous year.

"Our results rallied significantly from a weak first quarter due to improved profitability in both our fresh bakery and prepared meats businesses," said Michael McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf.

"We've implemented selective price increases, grown our core branded businesses and our value creation initiatives are contributing to margin growth. While we made excellent progress in the quarter, we are heading into challenging commodity markets driven by drought conditions throughout North America that will fuel further food inflation. Our business fundamentals are strong and we will take action to manage on-going cost increases."

During the quarter, the Protein Group had adjusted operating earnings of CAD41,294,000 (US$41.1 million), down 15% during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of CAD855,514,000 (US$851.7 million), up 3% during the same quarter of the previous year.

The Bakery Products Group had adjusted operating earnings of CAD32,150,000 (US$32 million), up 8% during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of CAD404,736,000 (US$403 million), down 2% during the same quarter of the previous year.

The company as a whole had adjusted operating earnings of CAD112,404,000 (US$112 million) during the six months, down 12% during the same period of the previous year. Sales for the six months were CAD2,421,073,000 (US$2.4 million), up 1% during the same period of the previous year.