SWP Doubles Fourth Quarter Profits

REGINA - Oct 27/04 - SNS -- The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) reported a net income of $28.76 million on gross revenue of $542.5 million during the fourth quarter ending July 31, up from $14.5 million on revenue of $448.9 million in 2003.

The fourth quarter results lifted SWP out of a loss position on the year, allowing it to report a $5 million profit on gross revenue of $1,407.3 million for the 2003-04 fiscal year, compared to a loss of $15.9 million on revenue of just $653 million in 2003-04.

In releasing the results, the SWP said "A 65% increase in shipments through the Pool's Prairie elevators helped drive earnings per share to $0.10 for the quarter, compared to earnings per share in the same quarter last year of $0.07 per share."

During the quarter, the SWP's Grain Handling and Marketing segment shipped 1.9 million metric tons (MT), up from 1.2 million MT in the fourth quarter of 2003. Port terminal volumes recovered to 1.0 million MT in the final three months, a 26% increase over the 0.8 million MT shipped between May and July of 2003.

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