JACKSON, MISS. — Higher selling prices and improved sales of eggs contributed to a 17% increase in income at Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. during the third quarter.

For the quarter ended March 2, the company had income of $30,551,000, equal to $1.27 per share, which compared with income of $26,102,000, or $1.09 per share, during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the quarter were $360,373,000, up 19% from $303,660,000. Sales were positively impacted from the recent acquisitions of the commercial egg assets of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Maxim Production Co., Inc.

“Cal-Maine Foods delivered a solid performance for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 with our net sales up 19% over the same period last year,” said Dolph Baker, chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The higher sales reflect both improved volumes from our recent acquisitions and higher average selling prices compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Specialty egg sales have been steadily increasing throughout this fiscal year and accounted for 16.7% of dozen eggs sold and 23.6% of total shell egg sales revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to 16.4% of dozen eggs sold and 23.4% of total shell egg sales revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. We remain focused on identifying additional opportunities to market and sell specialty eggs and meet the increasing demand from our customers. We believe the performance of specialty eggs will be a key driver of our future growth.”