Maple Leaf profits run stalls

Maple Leafs profits tumbled by 22 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, even though sales continued to increase.

That also pulled annual profits down by 9.7 per cent, but sales were up by 5.7 per cent.

The fourth-quarter profit was $59 million on sales of $877 million and the annual profit was $164 million on sales of $3.5 billion.

Pork margins declined, but were offset by gains in prepared meats and the two plant-based protein businesses in the United States that Maple Leaf bought last year.