Hormel Beats Outlook; Merges Business Lines

The company also announced it would combine two of its chief business units.

Marketwatch has an early report on the numbers from Austin, Minn.-based Hormel (NYSE: HRL). The company posted earnings of $218.2 million, or 41 cents a share, down from $243.9 million, or 45 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Revenue fell to $2.49 billion from $2.63 billion in the year-ago period. Both figures, though, beat average analyst estimates.

The company’s grocery products unit, which includes its Spam products and Skippy Peanut Butter, saw the strongest domestic profit growth (up 7 percent) while its specialty product division saw a profit decline of 21 percent, largely due to lower sales of its Muscle Milk products. Those two divisions will be merged under Luis Marconi, group vice president of grocery products.