Canada Packers Inc. CPKR-T released its first earnings report since its split from Maple Leaf Foods MFI-T became official, where it updated investors on improvements it’s making to its farms and plans to expand the brand.
The company processed more than a million hogs during the third quarter, up 3.7 per cent year-over-year.
“These gains were driven primarily by improvements within our company-owned hog operations, including better animal health, nutrition, and farm management,” chief executive Dennis Organ said on a conference call with analysts.
Organ said consumers will soon find Canada Packers ribs and pork loins in western Canadian stores, as the company looks to expand.
“We want to think about how we position ourselves in Canada and specifically in Western Canada as the differentiated product,” he said.
“At home in the prairies, we think we can command a premium for our Canada Packers brand.”
Other plans include bettering productivity at the pork plant, cost control and capitalizing on opportunities in markets abroad.
Maple Leaf Foods reports $43.1-million in third-quarter profit as sales jump 8%
Canada Packers said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 23 cents per share as the pork business spun off by Maple Leaf Foods last month reported a third-quarter profit of $25.6-million.
The result for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $19.4-million in the same quarter last year.
Sales for the three-month period while it remained under the Maple Leaf umbrella totalled $481.8-million, up from $420.2-million a year ago.
Maple Leaf kept a 16-per-cent stake in Canada Packers and the two companies have entered into an evergreen supply agreement.