Smithfield Foods Warns of Lower Earnings

Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest U.S. pork producer, said its fiscal third-quarter profit will fall after flood damage hurt its business in North Carolina and rising wholesale pork prices lagged rising hog prices. The Smithfield, Va.-based company didn’t specify how much lower profit would be than in the year-ago quarter, when the lowest hog prices in half a century led to record profit of $1.31 a share. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial was $1.03 a share. Smithfield is scheduled to release third-quarter results in February. Smithfield announced the lower profit forecast after trading closed in New York. Its shares fell $1.06 to close at $22.94 on the NYSE.