Sara Lee International Sales Down

Sara Lee has posted a sharp drop in international bakery sales for the fiscal year.

The news comes a month after the company announced the sale of three Spanish bakeries to Grupo Siro.

The sale of the plants, which employ 600 workers, leaves Sara Lee with eight factories, 55 distribution centres and 2,500 workers in the Spanish bakery business.

Sarah Lee has reported international bakery sales were down 11.3 per cent to $790m for the full year and in the fourth quarter they dropped 22.8 per cent on 2008.

Charges related to the Spanish bakery business left the company with an operating loss of $207m. Particularly low sales were cited as a cause of the poor performance, with Spanish consumers buying private label brands in the tough economic climate.

Overall, reported net sales for the quarter fell 9.8 per cent to $3.2bn in Q4, while yearly sales slid down 2.5 per cent to $12.9bn.

Despite the fall in sales, Sara Lee reported a narrower fourth quarter loss than last year. Net loss was $14m in the latest quarter, compared to a bigger loss of $672m year ago.

Operating results were also improved with operating profit for the fourth quarter at $56m, compared to an operating loss of $506m last year.