Pilgrim’s Pride, the world’s largest poultry producer, said today (1 May) that its second-quarter losses deepened as a consequence of increasing feed prices and charges related to its acquisition of Gold Kist.
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Losses for the quarter ended 31 March increased to US$40.1m, or $0.60 per share, from $32m,.or $0.48 per share for the comparable quarter of last year.
Results include a $0.14 charge from the early extinguishment of debt related to financing for its acquisition of Gold Kist.
Revenue rose 58% during the quarter to $1.99bn, up from $1.27bn a year earlier.
The company said its margins were damaged by increasing demand for corn from ethanol producers, which drove up the price of chicken feed. These costs, the group said, were only partially passed on to consumers.
However, Pilgrim’s Pride was up-beat on its performance in the current quarter, which has been helped by production cutbacks and a more favourable US chicken market.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the second half of the fiscal year. We believe that the combination of lower industry production levels year-over-year, should they remain in place, and stronger pricing heading into the summer months will lead to continuing improvement in our financial results for the remainder of the year,” said O.B. Goolsby Jr., Pilgrim’s Pride president and chief executive.
