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Smithfield Foods, Inc. said today that its President and Chief Executive Officer, C. Larry Pope, sold 100,000 shares of Smithfield Foods common stock to meet personal financial obligations. Prior to the sale, Mr. Pope owned 322,000 shares of Smithfield Foods common stock directly, as well as stock options to purchase 670,000 additional shares. As executives are paid for performance and bonuses were not taken last year, this share sale is purely to fulfill personal commitments. Mr. Pope does not intend to sell any additional shares at this time.Mr. Pope reiterated his enthusiasm about the future of Smithfield Foods. "Smithfield's packaged meats business is performing at record levels and profitability is already benefiting from the restructuring plan. In addition, hog production results will improve as herd reductions accelerate and supply is reduced. We continue to position the overall business for much stronger earnings and I am very optimistic about the potential earnings power of this company," said Mr. Pope.
With sales of $12 billion, Smithfield Foods is the leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and packaged meats in the United States, as well as the largest producer of hogs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. The forward-looking statements include statements concerning the Company's outlook for the future, as well as other statements of beliefs, future plans and strategies or anticipated events, and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. The Company's forward-looking information and statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These risks and uncertainties include the availability and prices of live hogs, raw materials, fuel and supplies, food safety, livestock disease, live hog production costs, product pricing, the competitive environment and related market conditions, the inability to refinance or otherwise amend our existing indebtedness on terms favorable to us or at all, hedging risk, operating efficiencies, changes in interest rate and foreign currency exchange rates, access to capital, the investment performance of the Company's pension plan assets and the availability of legislative funding relief, the cost of compliance with environmental and health standards, adverse results from on-going litigation, actions of domestic and foreign governments, labor relations issues, credit exposure to large customers, the ability to make effective acquisitions and successfully integrate newly acquired businesses into existing operations, the Company's ability to effectively restructure portions of its operations and achieve cost savings from such restructurings and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2009 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because actual results may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. Any forward-looking statement that the Company makes speaks only as of the date of such statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.
Smithfield Foods, Inc.
