Maple Leaf Foods invests heavily in plant protein business as sales are up in Q3

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of $229.5 million as it took a one-time charge related to the value of its plant protein business.

The company says the loss amounted to $1.86 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $44.5 million or 36 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Maple Leaf says its most recent quarter included a $190.9-million one-time non-cash impairment charge related to its plant protein group and a $31.5-million decrease in the fair value of biological assets.

On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it lost a penny per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 38 cents per share in the same quarter last year as a result of weaker commercial performance due to inflation and labour challenges.

Sales in the quarter totalled $1.23 billion, up from $1.19 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

The company says the increase was driven by higher sales in its meat protein group, partially offset by lower sales in the plant protein group.