US egg producer Cal-Maine Foods defied high feed costs to post a rise in half-year sales and profits.
Operating income rose to US$41.6m for the six months to the end of November, compared to US$30.8m in the same period last year. Net income was up to $26.4m, up from $19.9m in 2010, while sales jumped $110m to $534.2m.
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President and CEO Dolph Baker said the results were helped by strong seasonal retail demand, pricing and value-added speciality eggs.
“Our production costs have been materially affected by our feed costs, which were up 20% compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Prices for corn and soybean meal, our primary feed ingredients, have continued to escalate this fiscal year,” he said.
“However, we are pleased with the efficiency of our operations and our ability to absorb these higher costs and improve our profitability for the quarter. While we have recently seen some easing in grain prices, we still expect our feed costs to be high and volatile for the rest of the fiscal year.”
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 were $290.4m, compared with net sales of $234.5m for the same quarter of fiscal 2011. The company reported an operating income of $35.6m, compared to $22.7m last year. It booked a 52% jump in net income to $23.3m.
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