Jul 26, 2004 12:21 PM, from staff and wire reports

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp, the Pittsburg TX-based poultry producer, tallied net income of $9.8 million for the third fiscal quarter ended July 3, 2004. This compares with net income of $17.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2003.

The company also reported net sales of $1.4 billion for the third quarter ended July 3, 2004, an increase of $796.1 million, or 122.1%, compared with net sales of $651.9 million for the same period a year ago.

For the nine months ended July 3, 2004, Pilgrim’s Pride saw net income of $53.1 million, versus net income of $31.0 million for the nine months ended June 28, 2003.

Net sales totaled $3.9 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2004, a gain of $2.0 billion, or 103.0%, compared with net sales of $1.9 billion for the same period a year earlier.