Nov 1, 2003 12:00 PM

Sysco Corp, the Houston TX-based foodservice marketer and distributor, announced results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2003 ended March 29, 2003.

Net earnings increased 11.2% to $168.4 million versus $151.4 million in 2002's third quarter. Diluted earnings per share rose 13.0% to $0.26 compared with $0.23 in the same period a year ago. Sales for the quarter grew 13.8% to $6.4 billion versus $5.6 billion in the comparable period of 2002.

Sysco had a record sales week in week 10 of the third quarter and also began its fourth fiscal quarter with another record sales week. “Sales for the first week of the fourth quarter were $536.4 million, 2.7% higher than the previous record,” said Richard J Schneiders, chairman and chief executive officer of Sysco. “The solid sales gains achieved in March have carried into our final quarter.”