Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. Net earnings for the fourth quarter decreased to $9.2 million, which included $32.2 million of pre-tax restructuring charges, from $30.6 million in the fourth quarter last year. However, net earnings for the year increased to $87.3 million, which included $79.8 million of pre-tax restructuring charges, from $35.6 million last year
"We are very pleased with our results for the year and we remain on track to deliver our earnings and margin growth for 2012 through 2015," said Michael H. McCain, president and CEO. "We realized strong earnings growth for the year in our protein operations, which contributed to a 40% rise in our adjusted earnings per share. However, we experienced a challenging fourth quarter as a result of unseasonably strong raw material costs which impacted continued margin growth in prepared meats. We also experienced short term higher operating costs in our bakery business. These factors, combined with lower pork and poultry processing margins from year ago highs, contributed to lower relative performance in the fourth quarter. We are now actively passing through pricing to help mitigate these challenges and we remain committed to executing our value creation initiatives."