"Pork markets, while still compressed, now appears to be starting to show the sequential improvement that we expected in time," Frank said on a call with analysts Thursday.
He said in the earnings release that the company expects that momentum to continue building.
The company says its profit amounted to
Gross profit for the first quarter increased to
Sales totalled
The small decline in sales was mostly because of "sourcing decisions to reduce outside purchases in poultry and pork, impacting sales in the short term while setting us up to deliver on our plans moving forward," said Frank in the release.
"It's important to note that this modest decline is not reflective of the underlying health and performance of our business," he said on the call.
The company saw sales growth return to its prepared meats business during what's traditionally a seasonally weaker quarter, said Frank.
The company says sales in its prepared foods operating unit fell 0.4 per cent compared with a year ago, with prepared meat sales up 2.9 per cent offset by a 5.7 per cent drop in plant protein and a 7.1 per cent decline in poultry sales compared with last year.
Pressure on the plant protein category has continued, said Frank, adding the company is focused on "stimulating category growth" by planning new product innovation and improving upon existing product offerings.
Pork operating unit sales fell 4.5 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2023.
On an adjusted basis,
The results were in line with the company's expectations, said Frank.
Last quarter, Maple Leaf announced it was combining its meat protein and plant protein businesses into one. Because of that, it's now reporting its business segments differently "as a consolidated protein company" with two operating units, prepared foods and pork.
The company says it expects low-to-mid single-digit revenue growth in 2024.
Shares in Maple Leaf closed down almost four per cent at
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
Companies in this story: (TSX:MFI)
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