(Reuters) — Canadian meat processor Maple Leaf Foods reported a smaller quarterly loss on Thursday, as it worked through a plan to close older packing plants.
Maple Leaf, one of Canada’s biggest pork processors, is nearing the end of a multiyear program to upgrade its meat operations as it seeks to boost profits and better compete with U.S. rivals. Chief executive officer Michael McCain said the company will close a large plant in Kitchener, Ontario, this week, leaving only one plant in Toronto left to shut.
The fourth-quarter net loss from continuing operations narrowed to $23 million, or 16 Canadian cents per share, from $47.9 million, or 34 cents, a year ago.
The adjusted loss was $13.7 million, or eight Canadian cents per share, versus $56 million, or 41 Canadian cents, a year earlier.
Revenue for the company, whose brands include Schneiders meat, rose six percent to $794 million due to higher prices.
Analysts, on average, expected Maple Leaf to earn about one Canadian cent a share on sales of about $791 million, according to Thomson Reuters.
