Maple Leaf Foods earnings boosted

TORONTO - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. saw second-quarter earnings rise 18 per cent to $33.2 million, from $25 million, despite a drop in revenue due to lower prices for pork and poultry.

Sales at the large Toronto-based food processing company fell to $1.7 billion, a one per cent drop over the same period of 2004.

"The decline in the primary processing margins in fresh pork and the commodity poultry margins here in Canada was very substantial in the quarter," chief executive Michael McCain told analysts during a conference call yesterday. "In the case of pork, a well over 100 per cent decline year-over-year."

Poultry processing margins fell 63 per cent year-over-year.

Source: canadaeast.com

29 July 2005