Hillshire Brands posts $93M fiscal 3Q profit
Hillshire Brands posts $93 million profit for fiscal 3rd-qtr, reversing year-ago loss
CHICAGO (AP) -- Hillshire Brands Co., the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and other foods, on Thursday posted $93 million in fiscal third-quarter net income, reversing a year-ago loss and beating Wall Street predictions.
The company, based in Chicago, is the former North American business of Sara Lee Corp., which split into two separate companies last year. For the quarter ended March 30, its profit amounted to 75 cents per share, compared with a loss of $3 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
The recent quarter's results included $51 million in earnings from discontinued operations, while the year-ago quarter included a $30 million loss. Excluding one-time items, Hillshire said it posted an adjusted profit of 35 cents per share in the recent quarter.
Revenue fell about 1 percent to $935 million, below analysts' estimates.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of 33 cents per share on $952.6 million in revenue.
Sales at the company's retail division were flat, while sales of foodservice and other products fell 5 percent. Higher volumes were offset by lower pricing and a shift toward less profitable products.
For all of 2013 the company expects adjusted profit to come in at the high end of its previous guidance of $1.60 to $1.70 per share. Analysts expect $1.74 per share.
Hillshire shares fell $1.50, or 4.2 percent, to $34.07 in morning trading.
