Cal-Maine Foods saw annual earnings tumble thanks to the costs from its settlement of an anti-trust lawsuit with foodservice customer Sodexo.
In the 12 months ended 1 June, Cal-Maine recorded a net income of $50.4m, compared to earnings of $89.7m last year.
The company said earnings were hit by a one-off charge related to the settlement in an anti-trust class action claim brought by foodservice firm Sodexo. Cal-Maine agreed to pay a charge of $17m. Excluding this item, net profit was up 7.6% to $67.5m.
Operating profit slid 32.7% to $59.6m. However, sales were up 18.1% to $1.28bn.
CEO Dolph Baker said: “While the one-time charge related to the settlement affected our fourth quarter and fiscal 2013 financial results, we had a solid operating performance and we do not expect any material future impact on our operations. With this distraction behind us, we will focus on our business strategy and the opportunities ahead in fiscal 2014.”
