AUSTIN, MINN. — Earnings and sales declined at Hormel Foods Corp. in the second quarter ended April 28 as turkey volumes fell.

Austin-based Hormel had net earnings of $189 million, equal to 35¢ per share on the common stock, which were down 13% from $217 million, or 40¢ per share, in the previous year’s second quarter. Sales declined 3% to $2.89 billion from $2.98 billion. Volume declined 3.6% to 1.06 billion lbs from 1.10 billion lbs.

Hormel’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange closed at $30.79 per share on May 30, the day second-quarter financial results were given, which was a 10% drop from a close of $34.10 on May 29.

In Hormel’s Retail segment, net sales declined 7% to $1.79 billion from $1.92 billion in the previous year’s second quarter. Volume was down 5% as volume declines in value-added meat more than offset volume growth from the bacon and emerging brands verticals. James P. Snee, president and chief executive officer, said Hormel, according to Circana, gained share across flagship brands such as Planters, Black Label, Spam and Jennie-O.

“In our Retail segment, we continue to navigate an environment characterized by an uncertain consumer backdrop and pressure from whole bird turkey dynamics,” he said in a May 30 earnings call. “That said, there are many proof points showing that our focus on winning with consumers, winning with customers and driving profitable growth is delivering positive returns.”

In the first half of the fiscal year, volume declined by 29 million lbs in Retail with whole bird turkeys accounting for about two-thirds of the decline, said Jacinth Smiley, chief financial officer.

“In turkey, supply disruption this spring from HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) was minimal, and we remain in a strong position to service our customers and attract new business opportunities,” she said. “We are projecting growth across several parts of our genuine branded turkey business, including lean ground turkey in retail and value-added turkey in foodservice. Lower volumes and pricing for commodity whole turkeys are expected to continue to pressure earnings.”

In Foodservice, net sales increased 6% to $932 million from $881 million. Volume rose 3% driven by bacon, premium prepared proteins and turkey categories.

“In Foodservice, our team delivered excellent growth during the quarter in the convenience channel led by Planters flavored cashews and corn nuts innovation, and internationally, we recently announced that the Skippy brand is returning to the Canadian market in the form of five all new peanut butter-inspired snack products,” Snee said.

In International, sales fell 7% to $167 million from $180 million. Volume was down 7%. Lower commodity export volumes and lower sales in China more than offset double-digit volume and sales increases for Spam luncheon meat and refrigerated exports.

“Transitioning to our International segment, our performance has been very encouraging given the challenging conditions the team faced last year,” Snee said. “From a profitability standpoint, International had a strong first half of the year with segment profit up almost 30%. Our team drove growth in many areas, including our partnerships in Indonesia and the Philippines, our refrigerated export business and in-country operations in China and Brazil.”

Hormel companywide in the six months ended April 28 had net earnings of $408 million, or 75¢ per share on the common stock, which was down 6% from $435 million, or 80¢ per share, in the same time of the previous year. Sales declined 1.1% to $5.88 billion from $5.95 billion.

“We entered the year with a realistic and achievable path to improve our business over the next three years, and our first-half performance demonstrates meaningful progress,” Snee said. “We are driving savings, minimizing complexity and reducing costs.”