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Maple Leaf Reports Higher Earnings

Canadian food processing giant Maple Leaf Foods Inc. posted earnings of $17.3 million during its first-quarter, up from $12.7 million during the same period last year. Sales for the Q1 period ending March 31, 2006, slipped 5% to $1.4 billion, from $1.5 billion a year ago; the company attributed the decline to the lower commodity prices of export products. "We made good progress in earnings recovery during our first quarter of 2006, as we addressed factors that challenged us in late 2005," said Michael H. McCain, Maple Leaf\'s president and CEO. "However, as expected, protein markets were weak on a number of fronts coming into this year." Source: Canadian Grocer E-Newsletter, April 28, 2006.