SAN FRANCISCO — Smithfield Foods Inc. said Wednesday that stronger meat prices and tight supplies helped it post a fiscal first-quarter profit as its hog-production unit returned to profitability.
The world's largest pork producer said it earned $76.3 million, or 46 cents a share, in the latest quarter, in line with the average target of analysts polled by FactSet Research. In the year-earlier quarter, Smithfield /quotes/comstock/13*!sfd/quotes/nls/sfd (SFD 16.97, +0.04, +0.24%) lost $107.7 million, or 75 cents a share.
Sales rose 7% to $2.9 billion, compared to analysts' average forecast of $2.98 billion.
Much tighter pork supplies and rebounding exports are helping Smithfield, which has spent the past two years shoring up its battered balance sheet by closing plants and cutting other costs. This, along with other industry-wide supply cuts, is bolstering margins.
To read the rest of this story please go to: MarketWatch