Saputo : Canadian dairy Saputo posts higher profit, boosts dividend

(Reuters) - Saputo Inc, one of Canada's largest dairy producers, boosted its dividend and reported a larger quarterly profit on Tuesday, citing higher year-over-year dairy prices.

The dividend will edge up to 16 Canadian cents per share from 15 Canadian cents, payable on Sept. 15.

For its fiscal first quarter, net income rose 13 percent to C$200.3 million ($159.81 million), or 51 Canadian cents a share, from C$176.7 million, or 44 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

Revenue during the quarter, which ended June 30, rose 9.9 percent to C$2.9 billion.

Analysts were expecting Saputo to earn 52 Canadian cents per share on revenue of C$3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Saputo's shares rose 2.3 percent to C$43.25 in Toronto.

The Montreal-based company, whose brands include Dairyland milk and Armstrong cheese, is also among the biggest cheese producers in the United States.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, editing by G Crosse)