030634 Chicken Business Charge Hits ConAgraJune 27, 2003Chicago - Food company ConAgra Foods Inc. said quarterly profit fell due to a charge related to the chicken business it is selling. The company, which has been selling its fresh meat units to focus on more profitable processed foods, also said divestitures, lower prices due to lower material costs, and weakness in the food- service market cut into packaged goods sales, which fell 3 percent. Fourth-quarter earnings were $150.4 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $192.2 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago. Early this month ConAgra, which has Banquet, Healthy Choice, and Marie Callender's brands, said it will sell its chicken operations to Pilgrim's Pride Corp. In May it announced the sale of its Bumble Bee canned seafood business to an investor group and in September 2002 it sold majority interest in its beef and pork units to another investor group. Excluding a charge to write down assets of the chicken business and other losses from discontinued operations, profit was 42 cents a share, the company said. Analysts on average forecast 41 cents per share, with estimates ranging from 40 cents to 42 cents, according to Thomson First Call. ConAgra, the second-largest food maker, behind Kraft Foods Inc., had sales of $3.91 billion, down 33.5 percent, reflecting the divestitures. The company, which said it sees "long-term operating earnings growth of between 5 percent and 9 percent annually, also said it expects earnings per share in the first quarter to be below year-ago earnings due to marketing costs and a change in the mix of products it sells. The year-ago quarter also included profit from divested fresh beef and pork operations.
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