Canadian food group Maple Leaf Foods has booked a drop in third-quarter earnings due to the write-down of certain assets.
Maple Leaf earnings fell to C$32.6m (US$32.6m), down from $43m last year, the company revealed today (31 October).
The company said the drop in profit was largely the consequence of a $13m decrease in fair-value of its biological assets.
Stripping our write-downs, Maple Leaf emphasised that adjusted earnings totalled $76.3m, up from $73.3m.
"Our third quarter marked a return to operating profit growth in 2012 as we continue to enhance performance in our base business and execute our value creation strategies," CEO Michael McCain commented.
"We are achieving earnings growth in our consumer facing prepared meats and bakery businesses, and managing higher input costs through responsible pricing. While the challenges of consumer bread demand and pork market conditions continue, we are seeing signs of improvement in both."
Revenue dropped from $1.26bn to $1.23bn, the company revealed.
