Maple Leaf spinoff Canada Packers will pay quarterly dividend of 23 cents per share

Canada Packers Inc. said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 23 cents per share as the pork business spun off by Maple Leaf Foods last month reported a third-quarter profit of $25.6 million.

The company says the result for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $19.4 million in the same quarter last year.

Sales for the three-month period while it remained under the Maple Leaf umbrella totalled $481.8 million, up from $420.2 million a year ago.

Canada Packers was spun off from Maple Leaf as an independent publicly traded company on Oct. 1.

The new stand-alone company is focused on hog production and processing.

Maple Leaf kept a 16 per cent stake in Canada Packers and the two companies have entered into an evergreen supply agreement.