TORONTO – Maple Leaf Foods' annual investor conference held in Toronto Nov. 18 featured a detailed review of the company's value-creation plan by members of the company's senior-management team. Executives said the company expects to increase EBITDA margins by more than 75% through implementing the plan, which includes near-term initiatives to increase profitability.

"Our goal today was to build a deeper understanding of the comprehensive plan we set out last month, a plan that we expect will deliver significant and sustainable value to our shareholders now and over the next five years,” said Michael McCain, president and CEO. “We are focused on implementing the plan, which will see us build strength and competitiveness in our business by simplifying products and product lines, increasing the scale of our manufacturing facilities, and investing in advanced technology."


In the third quarter of 2010, Maple Leaf Foods realized its sixth-consecutive quarter of earnings growth, continued margin expansion in the protein segment plus double-digit earnings per share improvement compared to the same period in 2009.

Last week, the company announced the sale of its Ontario pork-processing business for proceeds of approximately $20 million. This transaction completes the transformation of the company's protein operations to focus on its value-added meats and meals business. This week the company also announced the decision to close its prepared meats facility in Nova Scotia, as part of the early stage consolidation of its network to build scale and reduce costs.