SMITHFIELD, VA. — Growth in packaged meats contributed to a 3% increase in income at Smithfield Foods, Inc. during the third quarter.

For the quarter ended Jan. 27, the company had income of $81.5 million, equal to 58c per share on the common stock, which compared with income of $79 million, or 49c per share, during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the quarter were $3,583.3 million, up 3% from $3,478.3 million.

“Our Smithfield bacon, Eckrich dinner sausage and Armour dry sausage all achieved double-digit growth,” said C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer. “We gained market share in the bacon, dinner sausage, dry sausage and ham steak categories. We were also very successful in broadening distribution of our core brands in a number of key product categories, including bacon, dinner sausage, deli meats, dry sausage and ham steaks.”

The Pork segment had operating profit of $179.9 million, down 8% from $195.9 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the segment were $3,003.1 million, up slightly from $2,992.7 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Within the Pork segment, Fresh Pork saw operating profit decline 31% during the quarter while Packaged Meats saw operating profit increase 7% to $125.9 million compared with $117.4 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Packaged Meats sales were $$1,757.9 million, up 4% from $1,689.5 million.

The Hog Production segment suffered an operating loss of $64.5 million during the quarter, which compared with an operating loss of $6.6 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the segment were $837.9 million, up 10% from $761.8 million.

For the nine months ended Jan. 27, Smithfield income declined 45% to $154.1 million, or $1.04 per share, which compared with an income of $281.8 million, or $1.73 per share, during the same period of the previous year. Sales for the nine months were $9,900.4 million, up slightly from $9,885.1 million.