USA Dean Foods, the American dairy soon to merge with Suiza Foods, has warned that its earnings for the last quarter of 2001 will be lower than expected. Suiza said that the news was a disappointment but maintained that a merger of the two companies would still go ahead.
Dean’s earnings per share were estimated at $0.43 (r0.50) compared with $0.83 (r0.96) in the last quarter of 2000. The fall has been attributed to lower than anticipated results in the company’s speciality foods group and more expensive stock-related compensation programmes following a recent rise in the company’s stock price. The dairy group, however, reported increased growth due to a strong performance in the fluid milk sector.
Chairman and chief executive officer at Dean Foods Howard Dean said: