021201 Hormel's Earnings Flat

Austin, MN - Hormel Foods Corp., the maker of Spam luncheon meat and Dinty Moore Stew, said quarterly earnings were little changed, as higher hog costs offset stronger demand for its food products.

The company said it was "cautiously optimistic" about the coming year, but said market conditions would likely remain unfavorable through the first half.

"We are cautiously optimistic about our prospects for fiscal 2003," Joel Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We expect to manage within unfavorable, but gradually moderating, market forces through the first half of the year."

The company said net income reached $68.0 million, or 49 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 26, compared with $68.8 million, or 49 cents, a year earlier.

On Nov. 14, the company said it was comfortable with analysts' average estimate of earnings per share of 48 cents for the quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel to earn 47 cents to 50 cents a share. Their average estimate remained 49 cents a share.

Fourth-quarter sales totaled $1.0 billion compared with $1.1 billion in the same period last year.

The stock inched up 7 cents to close at $22.52 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Hormel said its food business performed well, with higher market share, wider distribution levels and generally strong new product launches.

However, its hog buying costs rose.

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