Claremont, NC - Fresh Foods Inc. posted fiscal first-quarter net income of $0.05 a diluted share and said the result exceeded analysts' forecasts.
The company, which makes cooked meat products and runs a chain of restaurants, said net income in the three months ended May 22 rose to $339,008 from $293,235 during the comparable period last year. Its statement did not give the source of the analysts' forecasts to which it was referring, and officials were not immediately available.
Operating income for the quarter, before non-recurring expenses, was $1.36 million on sales of $35.2 million, Fresh Foods said. That compares to last year's first-quarter operating income of $787,761 and sales of $25.3 million.
Earnings per share on a fully diluted basis were $0.08 before non-recurring expenses, the company said, unchanged from the year-earlier quarter.
On June 9, Fresh Foods closed its $122 million purchase of the core business of Pierre Foods from Tyson Foods Inc., a move that nearly doubled the company's size. The non-recurring expenses that affected the latest first-quarter earnings were related to the acquisition.
The company, which operated under the name WSMP Inc. until May 8, produces fully cooked food products which it sells through various distribution channels under the Pierre, Fast Choice and Mom 'n' Pop's brand names.
In addition to its food-processing business, Fresh Foods owns and operates 62 restaurants and franchises an additional 41 units.
Forty-one of the restaurants the company owns and operates through Claremont Restaurant Group are Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon restaurants.
The company also said it had placed $115 million of high-yield bonds and arranged a $75 million revolving bank credit facility.
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