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Interstate doubles mark
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July 6, 2001: 11:06 a.m. ET
Nation's largest baker posts 4Q net twice what analysts expected
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Interstate Bakeries Corp. reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings Friday that were double forecasts, although earnings from operations fell from a year earlier.
The nation's largest baker, maker of such products as Wonder Bread and Twinkies, posted net income of $15.1 million, or 30 cents a diluted share, for the quarter ended June 2. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call were looking for only 15 cents a share.
Shares of Interstate (IBC: up $2.81 to $20.09, Research, Estimates) were up sharply Friday after the pre-market earnings report. The stock already was up 8 percent on the week since Sara Lee Corp. (SLE: down $0.04 to $19.35, Research, Estimates) announced early Monday it is paying a 55 percent premium to buy the nation's No. 2 bread baker, Earthgrains Co. (EGR: up $0.04 to $39.93, Research, Estimates).
Interstate earned about $22.5 million, or 34 cents a share, in the year-ago period, excluding a charge for costs of starting a new bakery and a strike by Teamster drivers that shut many of the company's Northeast operations for eight days. Without that charge, year-ago net income was $7.8 million, or 12 cents a share.
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Sales in the latest period fell 5 percent to $820 million, but the comparison is affected by the fact that the year-ago period had 13 weeks while the most recent period had only 12 weeks. When adjusted for the extra week, sales increased 2.7 percent. 
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