Pilgrim's Pride Q4 Profit Up 17%, Beats View; But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Chicken products maker Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (PPC) on Wednesday reported a 17 percent increase in profit for the fourth quarter from last year, reflecting higher sales and lower costs. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates.

Net income attributable to Pilgrim's Pride, a unit of Brazilian meat processor JBS SA, for the fourth quarter was $167.19 million or $0.64 per share, up from $143.35 million or $0.55 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The latest quarter's results reflected an adjustment of $48 million due to the early retirement of the 2018 notes and a non-cash foreign exchange loss due to the Peso devaluation.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.83 per share, compared to $0.55 per share in the same period last year. On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.79 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 3 percent to $2.11 billion from $2.05 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.21 billion for the quarter.

Cost of sales for the quarter declined 6 percent to $1.73 billion from $1.84 billion in the year-ago period.

For fiscal 2014, net income attributable to Pilgrim's Pride was $711.65 million or $2.74 per share, up from $549.56 million or $2.12 per share in the prior year. Adjusted earnings for the year were $2.96 per share, compared to $2.14 per share in the previous year.

Net sales for the year grew 2 percent to $8.58 billion from $8.41 billion last year.

Street expected the company to earn $2.89 per share for the year on revenues of $8.66 billion.

Bill Lovette, Chief Executive Officer of Pilgrim's Pride said, "As we begin the year, demand for chicken continues to be strong, outpacing supply, and with the improvements we've implemented, Pilgrim's is ideally situated to reap the benefits."

PPC closed Wednesday's trading at $25.87, down $0.62 or 2.34 percent on a volume of 2.99 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further declined $0.12 or 0.46 percent to $25.75.