Hormel Foods said today (22 May) that its profit rose in the second quarter as pork costs fell and Spam sales continued to increase.
The Austin-based company said earnings were up 14%, climbing to US$77.6m on sales of $1.6bn – a rise of 6%.
Strong Spam sales were the consequence of investment in marketing, the company suggested.
Profits at the company’s refrigerated foods division increased 26% to $55.6m. However, the company said that its Jennie-O Turkey brand felt the negative impact of increased feed and energy costs, with profits falling 16%.
Rising costs also dented Hormel’s speciality foods segment, where profits dropped nearly 5% to $15.5m.
Despite rising grain and energy expenses, Hormel reiterated its full-year earnings forecast of $2.30-$2.40 per share.
“We were able to meet our company objectives for sales and earnings growth in the second quarter amidst a challenging operating environment,” said chairman, president, and CEO Jeffrey Ettinger.
For the first half of the year, Hormel earnings totalled $165.7m, up from $143.3m during the same period a year ago. Revenue rose to $3.2bn, from $3bn for the comparable period of last year.
