Earnings fall 22 percent at Hormel Foods

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AUSTIN, Minn., May 16 (UPI) -- Hormel Foods Corp. said its second quarter net income for the period ended April 27 fell 22 percent to $32.7 million, or 23 cents a share, from $38.9 million, or 28 cents during the same period last year.

The company last month lowered it earnings outlook for the quarter to 20 cents to 24 cents a share, from a prior 30 cents to 34 cents.

Analysts on Wall Street lowered their expectations to 22 cents from a prior 31 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

The maker of Spam luncheon meat and Jennie-O turkey said its revenue fell to $954.6 million from $961.8 million a year ago.

Joel W. Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive officer said, "The industry faced aggressive retail promotions resulting from the protein oversupply created by the Russian ban on poultry imports.

"Even though the performances of our grocery products reporting segment and the food service and meat products business units of the refrigerated foods reporting segment were strong, they were not able to offset the effect the Russian ban had on the market," Johnson said.

Two of Hormel's key growth initiatives, ethnic foods and Hormel HealthLabs, continued to show healthy growth, Johnson said.

"Despite the near-term difficulties caused by this unexpected market condition, Hormel Foods is maintaining aggressive marketing support for its branded, value-added products," Johnson added.