Maple Leaf Foods has a strong 2011
By Canadian Packaging Staff
General Maple Leaf FoodsStrong protein product earnings come via sales of $4.9 billion.
2011 was very, very good for the Toronto-based Maple Leaf Foods, with a reported net earnings of $87.3-million derived from sales of $4.9 billion.
According to a company press release, net earnings for Maple Leaf were up nearly 1.5x from 2010 levels when net earnings were $35.6-million.
the 2011 sales were down two per cent from 2010, but after adjusting for foreign exchange rates and divestitures, sales were concluded to actually be up by five per cent.
Says Maple Leaf president and chief executive officer Michael McCain, “We realized strong earnings growth for the year in our protein operations, which contributed to a 40 per cent rise in our adjusted earnings per share.
“However, we experienced a challenging fourth quarter as a result of unseasonably strong raw material costs which impacted continued margin growth in prepared meats. We also experienced short-term higher operating costs in our bakery business. These factors, combined with lower pork and poultry processing margins from year-ago highs, contributed to lower relative performance in the fourth quarter,” continues McCain.
In 2011, Maple Leafs Foods announced a major restructuring of its operations, involving closures, job loss, but with production moved to other facilities to ensure its resources are better utilized.
As well, just weeks earlier, the settlement payments of $27-million in total were sent off to victims and families of victims of the 2008 listeriosis outbreak that killed 23 Canadians and made an additional 60 ill.
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