990850 Hormel Posts 40.8% Hike in Net EarningsAugust 19, 1999Austin, MN - Hormel Foods Corporation announced net earnings of $29,550,000, or $.40 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended July 31. This represents an increase of $8,556,000, or 40.8%, over third quarter net earnings one year ago of $20,994,000, or $.28 per diluted share. For the first nine months of the year (39 weeks), operating earnings were $99,956,000, an increase of $23,219,000, or 30.3%, over operating earnings of $76,737,000 for the comparable period of fiscal 1998. Operating earnings per diluted share were $1.36 as compared to $1.01 for the same three quarters of last year. Total reported earnings for the nine months of $103,764,000, or $1.41 a diluted share, compare to last year's total reported earnings of $94,139,000, or $1.23 a diluted share. Both are higher than announced operating earnings with the increase reflecting a one-time gain in the first quarter of fiscal 1999 of $3,808,000, or $.05 a diluted share, for the sale of land by Campofrio Alimentacion, S.A., Madrid, Spain, a company in which Hormel Foods has a 21.4% ownership interest. In the first three quarters of fiscal 1998, reported earnings included a one-time first quarter gain of $17,402,000, or $.23 a diluted share, for the sale of the company's Davenport (Iowa) gelatin/specialized proteins plant. Third quarter dollar sales were $816,818,000, an 8.1% increase from the $755,769,000 reported for the same 13-week period of fiscal 1998. For the nine months, dollar sales of $2,406,918,000 were up 2.5% from the $2,349,008,000 announced for the corresponding 39 weeks of last year. Strong volume gains and significantly improved business mix continue to drive results. Hormel Foods volume increases are clearly in the upper echelon of all food manufacturers and these trends have been strong for several quarters.
|
