Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., which has its North American headquarters in Greeley, swung to a third-quarter loss as falling chicken prices and soaring feed costs continued to weigh on the poultry producer’s results.
The industry as a whole is struggling with rising costs and falling prices. In August, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its junk-level rating on Pilgrim’s Pride, noting the world’s second-largest poultry producer’s results this year will continue to be stung by these challenges.
“We are making decisions now that will drive profitability,” said chief executive Bill Lovette, adding there are signs chicken pricing will improve heading into 2012.
Pilgrim’s Pride reported a loss of $162.5 million, or 76 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $57.9 million, or 27 cents a share. Excluding one-time charges, the per-share loss was 52 cents.
