Pilgrim's Pride Corp has reported the best quarterly and first-six-months earnings in its history. The Pittsburg TX-based poultry producer tallied net income of $33.0 million for the second fiscal quarter ended April 3, 2004, an increase of $22.2 million compared with net income of $10.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2003.
Net sales for the second quarter ended April 3, 2004, were $1.385 billion, an increase of $754.3 million, compared with net sales of $630.6 million for the same period a year ago, with the increase resulting primarily from the acquisition of the ConAgra chicken division in 2003.
For the six months ended April 3, 2004, Pilgrim's Pride reported net income of $43.2 million, an increase of $29.7 million versus net income of $13.5 million for the six months ended March 29, 2003. Net sales for the first six months of fiscal 2004 totaled $2.429 billion, a $1.171 billion increase compared with net sales of $1.258 billion for the same period a year earlier.
”We also are announcing plans to restructure our turkey business to significantly reduce our production of commodity turkey meat and strengthen our focus on value-added turkey products,” said O B Goolsby, president and chief operating officer. “After the restructuring is completed, which we are committed to achieving by Oct 1, 2004, we will have a turkey product mix that is two-thirds value-added and one-third branded fresh and frozen products.”
As part of its restructuring, the company intends to sell or close its Hinton VA turkey commodity meat operations. The Hinton operation employs about 1,300 employees and processes some 160,000 turkeys per week.
