LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
June 26 2019 - 5:55PM
Dow Jones News
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)
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