990738 Fresh Foods Reports Higher Income

Hickory, NC - Fresh Foods, Inc. reported consolidated financial results for the quarter ended June 5, 1999.

Operating revenues, operating income, and earnings per share were all substantially higher than the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Operating revenues for the first 13-week period of Fresh Foods' fiscal 2000 increased to $70,376,609, compared to $34,899,127 for the quarter ended May 22, 1998. Operating income for the first quarter of the fiscal year rose to $5,441,771, versus $1,274,625 in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Net income for the quarter ended June 5 totaled $833,316. For the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, net income was $339,008.

David R. Clark, Fresh Foods' president and chief operating officer, said the company's management is pleased with the financial results of the quarter. He pointed out that earnings per share on a fully diluted basis of 14 cents a share was almost three times as high as the 5 cents per share earnings on a fully diluted basis for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

“Our company is extremely pleased with our first quarter results from two perspectives. First, we are pleased with how the results compare to last year. But even more important, in our opinion, is how the performance positions Fresh Foods for the future,” Clark declared. “The progress our company has shown is why we so strongly feel our acquisitions of Pierre and Sagebrush, and the resulting integrations, have been a major success.”

Fresh Foods, Inc. is the parent company of several wholly owned subsidiaries, including: Pierre Foods, LLC, which operates food processing plants in Cincinnati, Ohio and Claremont, North Carolina; and Claremont Restaurant Group, LLC, which is responsible for the company's restaurant activities.

Pierre Foods is a leading manufacturer of fully cooked branded and private- label protein and bakery products and is the largest integrated producer of microwaveable sandwiches. It provides specialty beef, poultry, and pork products formed and portioned to meet specific customer requirements. Pierre sells primarily to the foodservice market and today serves many leading national restaurant chains, a majority of primary and secondary schools, long-term healthcare facilities, military, vending, convenience store, and other niche markets.

Fresh Foods owns and operates 49 Sagebrush(r) Steakhouse & Saloon restaurants. In addition, the company owns and operates 13 Western Steer(r) and four Prime Sirloin(r) locations and one Bennett's(TM) restaurant. A total of 35 franchised locations operate under the Western Steer, Prime Sirloin, and Bennett's concepts.

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