ConAgra doesn't expect to receive a final insurance settlement related to the June explosion at its Garner Slim Jim plant until later next year.
The company initially projected it would get the insurance money during its current fiscal year, which ends in May.
But "given the complexity of the claim ... and based on additional analysis of the claim process, we now expect the final settlement of the insurance claim to be delayed until fiscal 2011," chief financial officer John Gehring told analysts on a conference call today to discuss ConAgra's second-quarter results.
The Omaha, Neb.-based company has already received more than $50 million related to its property and business interruption insurance claims, Gehring said.
The company lost about half of its Slim Jim production when the explosion destroyed some of the Garner plant, killer four people and injured scores more. ConAgra has shifted some Slim Jim production to a plant in Ohio and also is using outside manufacturers.
The company recently laid off about 300 of the Garner plant's 750 employees.
Weaker Slim Jim volume hurt ConAgra's consumer foods division during the quarter that ended Nov. 29. That division still posted a 3 percent increase in sales, bolstered by stronger sales of Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Marie Callender's frozen dinners and other brands as more people ate at home during the recession.
ConAgra's net income rose to $239.7 million, or 55 cents a share, more than analysts anticipated. Total sales fell 2 percent to $3.17 billion as the company's sales to restaurants fell about 11 percent.
ConAgra shares, which are up 34 percent this year, fell 3 cents to $22.13 today.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or