La Coop
fédérée played its game well |
Montreal, Tuesday, February 22, 2005 –
Pierre Gauvreau, La Coop fédérée’s
Chief Executive Officer, presented the results of the fiscal
year ended October 30, 2004, at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth
Hotel this morning. “La Coop fédérée
reported operating earnings before patronage refunds and taxes
of $35.5 million, compared with $26.1 million last year,”
said Mr. Gauvreau.
This $9.4 million increase in earnings was due to Olymel’s
strongly higher earnings, primarily for its poultry operations,
although this was offset slightly by weaker results for its
pork operations. Regarding net earnings for the CO-OP/Sonic
Agribusiness Division results were down slightly from last
year.
La Coop fédérée’s sales for 2004
were $2.909 billion, up from $2.755 billion the previous year.
“This increase stemmed from markedly higher selling
prices in the poultry and pork sectors, thereby offsetting
Olymel’s reduced sales volumes. Higher volumes and input
prices for the CO-OP/Sonic Agribusiness Division also contributed
to the sales increase,” said Mr. Gauvreau.
La Coop fédérée’s consolidated
balance sheet showed total assets of $808.8 million, up from
$762.2 million at the end of fiscal 2003. This increase resulted
primarily from higher accounts receivable and, in particular,
increased exports.
Founded in 1922 as Québec’s agricultural cooperative
federation, La Coop fédérée is owned
by nearly one hundred cooperatives representing more than
51,000 members. La Coop fédérée has 9,587
employees at dozens of facilities in Québec, Ontario
and Alberta.
Information : |
Caroline Morin
Communications Advisor – La Coop fédérée
Telephone : 514-858-2048
Email : [email protected] |