Sysco sees sales, earnings climb in fiscal 2Q

Sysco Corp, the Houston TX-based foodservice marketer and distributor, announced results for the fiscal second quarter ended Jan 1, 2005.

Net earnings gained 4.8% to $232.6 million versus $222.0 million in last year's second quarter. Sales increased 4.2% to $7.3 billion compared with $7.0 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2004. Operating expenses as a percent of sales were 13.71%, a 46-basis point reduction in comparison with 14.17% in the same period a year ago.

For the first half of fiscal 2005, net earnings rose 6.4% to $458.6 million versus $430.8 million in last year's first 26 weeks. Sales increased 4.9% to $14.9 billion compared with $14.2 billion a year earlier. Operating expenses as a percent of sales were 13.86%, a 40-basis point reduction in comparison to 14.26% in the same period last year.