Smithfield Foods Inc.

200 Commerce St.

Year founded: 1962

Industry: Manufacturing

Post 200 Category: Top Companies Headquartered in Virginia

Revenue: $9.27 Billion

Net Income/Loss: $227.10 Million

Earnings per share: $2.03

Dividend: n/a

Stockholder equity: $1.62 Billion

Auditor: Ernst & Young LLP

Stock: SFD

Assets: $4.81 Billion

Market capitalization: $3.42 Billion

52-week high: 34.64 3/1/2005

52-week low: 23.27 10/21/2004

Chairman and CEO: Joseph W. Luter III

President and COO: C. Larry Pope

Employees: 46400

Local employees: n/a

Description: Smithfield Foods is the world's largest pork processor and hog producer.

Developments: Smithfield is focusing on expanding in Europe, mainly through acquisitions. In the past year, it spent more than $275 million on acquisitions, including $137 million for a 22 percent stake in Spain's largest meat producer, Campofrio. The company also acquired Morliny S.A., a Polish meat producer, and Comtim Group in Romania. Smithfield plans to build up its East European operations and acquire more European operations this year, spokesman Jerry Hostetter said. The company focuses on pork but is also the nation's fifth-largest beef processor and plans to increase that portion of its business. In February, Smithfield agreed to create a joint cattle-feeding business with Colorado-based ContiBeef LLC, a subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies Inc. Terms were not released. To sharpen its focus on adhering to federal acquisition guidelines, in November the company agreed to pay a $2 million penalty to settle 2001 charges that it failed to comply with pre-merger notification requirements set by the Justice Department before it acquired stock of its then-competitor, IBP Inc.