09:21 AM EDT, 03/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Premium Brands Holdings ( PRBZF ) , a producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, on Friday reported higher earnings driven by the company's Protein and Bakery Groups' U.S. sales initiatives, which generated about $50 million in the fourth quarter.

The company reported earnings of $37.3 million or $0.84 per diluted share for the three months ended Dec. 28, compared with $15 million or $0.34 per diluted share, a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue increased to $1.64 billion compared with $1.55 billion, a year earlier.

"We also saw an improved consumer environment in the Canadian market with our Premium Food Distribution segment's Canadian businesses generating 2.4% in organic volume growth for the quarter," said Premium Brands ( PRBZF ) Chief Executive George Paleologou.

"Looking forward, our acquisition pipeline remains full and in fact we recently completed the acquisition of Arizona's premium fresh sausage business, Denmark Sausage," added Paleologou.

The company's board also declared a cash dividend of $0.85 per common share for Q1 of 2025, payable on April 15, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31.

In 2025, Premium Brands ( PRBZF ) expects revenue and adjusted EBITDA to range between $7.2 billion and $7.4 billion, and $680 million and $700 million, respectively.

Shares of the company closed down 1.5% to $75.25 on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.