HRL Reports Monster Earnings And Sales For Fiscal 2010 Q2

Hormel Foods Corp HRL announced better-than-expected fiscal second quarter earnings as its sales improved. The maker of Spam lunch and owner of Jennie-O turkey brand said that diluted adjusted EPS rose 14% to $0.67, as compared to $0.59 in the same quarter a year ago. Excluding one-time charges associated with the closure of a plant and the tax impact due to new healthcare laws, Hormel Foods would have earned $0.67 per share, beating the consensus expectations of $0.61 a share. HRL’s adjusted segment operating profit also climbed 18% year-over-year. The company’s dollar sales for the quarter jumped 7% to $1.7 billion, while volume rose 2% year-over-year. However, the adjusted operating profit of HRL’s grocery products fell 2%, while the volume and dollar sales continued to move up by 10% and 6%, respectively. Hormel has upped its full year forecasts for the adjusted earnings to $2.75-$2.85 per share this year, up from the prior forecast of $2.68-$2.78. The analysts has expected earnings of $2.75 per share. HRL’s shares have slipped 3.06% to $40.50 in pre-market trading. Read more from Benzinga's Company news.