050637 Conagra to Shut Plants as Profit FallsJune 30, 2005
Chicago - ConAgra Foods Inc. posted a drop in quarterly profit on higher pork and beef costs and said it plans to shut some plants in order to cut costs. ConAgra (up $0.10 to $23.20, Research) shares edged higher in morning New York Stock Exchange trading. The company said it expected the problems in the packaged meat section, where it has been unsuccessful in attempts to raise prices to combat higher costs, to continue into the current fiscal first quarter. ConAgra added that overall earnings in the current quarter are expected to be down from a year earlier. The company said it plans to close some of its 150 plants to reduce costs, but did not detail specific plans, which are still being developed. The maker of Healthy Choice and Hebrew National meats and a host of other packaged foods, posted profit of $101.9 million, or 20 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 29, compared with $169.3 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding severance costs and a change in state income tax rates, earnings were 26 cents a share. Analysts on average forecast 26 cents a share for the latest quarter, according to Reuters Estimates. That is down 10 cents from the average estimate earlier this month before the company warned that it would not meet its earnings expectations.
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