Land O'Lakes, Arden Hills, Minn., says it experienced significantly improved sales and earnings for the first quarter of 2004. Company officials also commented on progress against several strategic initiatives.
Meanwhile Kraft Foods, Northfield, Ill., says restructuring costs related to plant closure were at the heart of a 33% drop in first quarter profits for 2004. Friendly Ice Cream Corp.,Wilbram, Mass., reported a net loss for the three-months-ended March 28 of $5.1 million.
Comparable restaurant sales for Friendly increased 4.2% for company-operated restaurants and 6.5% for franchise restaurants
Land O'Lakes reported net sales of $2.01 billion and net earnings of $46.5 million for the quarter, as compared to sales of $1.45 billion and a net loss of $0.4 million for the first quarter of 2003. Company officials noted that $175 million of the sales increase results from the consolidation of MoArk sales (layers/eggs) into Land O'Lakes financials.
