Sara Lee 1Q profit rises 23 pct though sales fall

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. -- Food maker Sara Lee Corp. said Thursday cost-cutting, solid sales of new products and a decline in commodity costs drove its fiscal first-quarter profit up 23 percent.

The maker of Jimmy Dean sausages, Hillshire Farm deli meats and its namesake desserts and breads, Sara Lee reported it earned $284 million, or 41 cents per share, up from $230 million, or 32 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Revenue declined 7 percent to $2.59 billion as it sold fewer products.

"A number of factors contributed to our results, including lower input costs, ... cost savings and pricing discipline," Chief Executive Brenda C. Barnes said in a statement.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items from their estimates, expected the company to earn 16 cents per share on $3.16 billion in revenue.

Sara Lee raised its forecast for 2010 on the basis of solid new-product sales and the relative benefit it expects from the weakening dollar.

The company said it is increasing or maintaining market share in new products, such as Hillshire Farm family size lunch meat tubs. Sara Lee has been focusing more selling lower-priced items popular as consumers eat at home more often during the recession.