A pair of companies with Utah ties reported quarterly financial results Monday.

Holly

Dallas-based Holly Corp. reported company-record quarterly net income of $61.7 million, or $1.97 per share, for the period ended Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $11.5 million, or 36 cents per share, for the year-earlier quarter.

The petroleum refiner and marketing company, owner of a refinery in Woods Cross, attributed the rise primarily to "very high refined product margins."

Wall Street had expected the company to earn $2.17 per share during the most recent quarter

Revenues totaled $935.3 million, up from $597.4 million.

Holly also has refineries in New Mexico and Montana and owns a 45 percent interest in Holly Energy Partners LP, which through subsidiaries owns or leases petroleum product pipelines and refined-product terminals in several states, including Utah.

Holly stock fell $1.48 Monday to close at $56.93 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $22.80 to $65.45.

Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the second-biggest U.S. poultry processor, said fourth-quarter net income fell about 1 percent and forecast first-quarter profit of 75 cents to 85 cents a share, less than analysts estimated.

Net income fell to $74.7 million, or $1.12 a share, in the three months ended Oct. 1, from $75.3 million, or $1.13, a year earlier, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride said. Excluding a $14.8 million insurance benefit and a restructuring cost of $5.1 million, profit in the 2004 quarter was $65.6 million, or 99 cents a share, the company said.

Sales in the fiscal fourth quarter were little changed at $1.48 billion.

Net income in the period was at the high end of the company's Oct. 24 forecast $1.07 to $1.12 a share, up from an estimate in August of 90 cents to $1. Wall Street's consensus estimate for the company had been $1.07 per share for the most recent quarter.

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The company, which has a distribution center in Salt Lake City, said it expects to earn $3.50 to $4 a share for the 2006 fiscal year, which began Oct. 2. Analysts are expecting $3.68 a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Pilgrim's Pride employs about 24,500 people and operates processing plants, distribution centers, hatcheries and feed mills in several states and Mexico.

The company's stock fell $1.78 Monday to close at $31.05 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $28.38 to $40.23.


Contributing: Bloomberg News

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