TOP STORIES

General Mills Dragged Down by Snack-Bar Sales Decline -- 2nd Update

General Mills Inc.'s snack-bar business faltered in its latest quarter and sales of grocery staples such as cereal were flat, highlighting the tough path the packaged-food maker faces as it works to spark faster growth.

Shares of the maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and Nature Valley granola bars fell almost 5% in midday trading Wednesday after the company said sales excluding the impact from currency fluctuations and acquisitions dropped in its fiscal fourth quarter and were flat for the year.

Overall for the quarter, the company posted a profit of $570.2 million, or 94 cents a share, up from $354.4 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier. After adjustments, the company's profit of 83 cents a share surpassed analysts' targets.

Poultry Price-Fixing Case Signals Negative Social Implications -- ESG Insight

1648 GMT - The Department of Justice's intervention in a price-fixing lawsuit against top poultry processors is negative for perceptions of producers' governance. From a social standpoint it could be worse, as the intervention suggests not just antitrust violations but criminal violations that could have affected stakeholders across the value chain, including farmers, supermarket chains, restaurateurs, food distributors and consumers. Top poultry processors, such as Koch Foods, Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods, which control about 90% of the market, are accused of coordinating prices between 2008 and 2016, resulting in material price increases despite a decline in input costs. Should chicken companies opt to settle the civil lawsuits, the DOJ still could bring criminal charges. (ricardo.aceves@wsj.com)

Canada Probes Fake Export Certificates Amid Dispute With China

OTTAWA -- Canada's Trade Minister Jim Carr vowed Wednesday to find out the source of fake Canadian export certificates, saying this alleged criminal activity represents another blow to Canadian farmers who have become collateral damage in a deepening row between Beijing and Ottawa.

The emergence of forged export documents forced Canada late Tuesday to heed Beijing's request to halt all China-bound meat shipments, which last year totaled nearly a half-billion U.S. dollars.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Yum Names New CFO -- MarketWatch

Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) on Wednesday said Chris Turner, 44, will join as chief financial officer, effective Aug. 8. Turner, who previously was a senior vice president at PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), will assume global responsibility for finance, corporate strategy, supply chain, and information technology. Yum shares are flat in extended trading.

FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle Makes Up for Days of Weakness -- Market Talk

15:41 ET - The live cattle futures contract on the CME has made up for nearly four days-worth of declines, rising 2.1% to $1.05375 per pound. The futures contract reacted to corn falling as well as short-covering, according to traders. "There were an awful lot of new short positions in this market that were liable for a squeeze," says independent trader Dan Norcini. Although China's suspension of meat imports from Canada made headlines today, traders don't believe much business was conducted specifically in reaction to the news. "I have my doubts that this was today's catalyst considering hogs didn't seem to care at all about the news," says Craig VanDyke of Top Third Ag Marketing. Lean hogs futures, meanwhile, fall 0.9% to 75.475 cents per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jun 26 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jun 26       -$  1.18            +$ 26.42 
Jun 25       -$  1.44            +$ 29.49 
Jun 24       -$  3.83            +$ 33.34 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                 Beef 
          For Today             Choice  101.3 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select   98.5 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 6 cents per hundred pounds, to $219.70, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 39 cents per hundred pounds, to $198.56. The total load count was 156. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.43, to $72.69 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 26, 2019 17:40 ET (21:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.