Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., reported net income of $17.4 million, or $0.74 per basic share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with net income of $8 million, or $0.34 per basic share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2006. Net sales for the company were $175.2 million compared with net sales of $130.1 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2006.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2007, net sales were $428.3 million compared with net sales of $348.2 million for the prior-year period. The company reported net income of $18.4 million, or $0.78 per basic share, for the first nine months of fiscal 2007 compared with a net loss of $803,000, or $0.03 per basic share, for the year-earlier period.
Commenting on the third-quarter results, Fred Adams, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., stated: “During the third quarter of fiscal 2007, our egg supply was well balanced with good demand from our retail and food service customers. In addition, the egg industry, through a marketing cooperative that included Cal-Maine, put together an export sale to Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan that required approximately 16 million dozen eggs. This significant drawdown of inventory put upward pressure on egg prices and resulted in more favorable market conditions for the quarter. Costs for corn and soybean meal, our primary feed ingredients, were higher for the quarter as a result of strong demand from ethanol plants. Based on current forecasts, we believe these higher feed costs will continue for the foreseeable future. However, we are off to a strong start for the fourth fiscal quarter with seasonally higher egg demand leading up to Easter.”