Saputo second-quarter earnings dip on lower dairy prices

(Reuters) - Saputo Inc (Toronto:SAP.TO - News), one of Canada's largest dairy producers, said on Thursday its second-quarter earnings were down from the same period a year earlier on lower prices for cheese and butter.

For its fiscal second quarter, net income fell to C$148.6 million, or 37 Canadian cents a share, from C$155.7 million, or 39 Canadian cents, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings were 38 cents per share.

Revenue during the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, rose 3 percent to C$2.79 billion.

Analysts were expecting Saputo to earn 37 Canadian cents per share on revenue of C$2.74 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Saputo's shares eased 0.2 percent to C$31.64 in Toronto.

The Montreal-based company, whose brands include Dairyland milk and Armstrong cheese, is among the top three cheese producers in the United States and also has significant operations in Argentina and Australia.

(By Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Alan Crosby)