GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp. said Friday that its first-quarter loss had more than doubled, as the company faced higher prices for feed and was forced to liquidate some of its inventory.
The company's stock fell 33 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $6.17 in morning trading.
Pilgrim's Pride said it lost $121 million, or 56 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 27, worse than the loss of $45.5 million in the same period a year ago.
The Colorado company's revenue increased 15 percent from a year ago to $1.89 billion, partly because of strong foreign demand helped by the weak dollar.
The revenue beat analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion.
The quarter also marked the first with Bill Lovette, former president of Case Foods Inc., at the helm. He became CEO in January after his predecessor, Don Jackson, left to run Pilgrim's majority owner, JBS USA Holdings Inc.
Lovette blamed, in part, "the unrelenting upward march" of prices for corn and soybean, which the company needs for chicken feed. Pilgrim's Pride also suffered because of lower retail prices for chicken. Market prices for breast meat averaged $1.26 per pound, down 10 percent from a year ago, and prices for wings fell 38 percent to $1 per pound, the company said.
Lovette laid out several plans. He said the company had already negotiated some price increases. It also restructured its business units by type of customer, such as fast food or prepared foods. And the company liquidated some inventory in the quarter, which hurt margins but freed up cash.