Smithfield "thrives" as profits slide

However, for the 2012 financial year, the company said net income in the current quarter stood at US$120.7 million compared to net income of $143.7 million last year, a fall of 16%.

C. Larry Pope, Smithfield’s president and CEO, said: “Our business is thriving and we are proud to deliver yet another quarter of quality and consistent earnings to our shareholders led by strong results in our pork segment.

“Importantly, we were able to grow the top line in our packaged meats business in the second quarter — while exhibiting strong pricing discipline to maintain margins in the normalized range — by leveraging our closely coordinated sales and marketing platform to expand share and distribution. Our Farmland, Smithfield, Armour and Curly’s brands all achieved double-digit retail sales and volume growth in the quarter,” he added.

He said the company had benefited from the introduction of several new products into the US marketplace, which included Armour Active Packs, Eckrich Bacon Covered Deli Ham and Smithfield PouchPack Bacon, along with the fact that core brands outperformed the market, bringing volume growth of 5%, bucking the general market trend.

“Our fresh pork and hog production businesses continued to benefit from a balanced domestic supply and demand dynamic, as well as very strong exports,” he said. “Pork exports continued their upward trajectory, fueled by strong gains in shipments to Asia. Although we were disappointed in the performance of our international businesses, we were pleased with the sequential improvement in that segment from last quarter in the face of continued high raw material costs and soft demand in Europe.”