Benzinga | Jul 22, 2021 04:31PM EDT

Lamb Weston Reports $415M Capital Investment In New French Fry Processing Line In Idaho

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) announced today an expansion of french fry processing capacity at its facility in American Falls, Idaho, and the declaration of its quarterly dividend.

"We continue to be confident about the long-term health and growth of the global french fry market," said Tom Werner, President and CEO of Lamb Weston. "This investment in American Falls complements our recently-announced plans to construct a greenfield french fry processing facility in China, as well as capacity expansion in Russia by our European joint venture, Lamb-Weston/Meijer. Together, these investments will strengthen our global manufacturing network, and provide us added flexibility to meet demand growth and serve our customers around the world."

Capacity Expansion

The Company announced the planned construction of a new french fry processing line at its existing facility in American Falls, Idaho, with expected capacity to produce more than 350 million pounds of frozen french fries and other potato products per year.

Construction of the new line is expected to be completed by mid-2023, and will add approximately 130 new jobs. The total investment is expected to be approximately $415 million, and will include additional modernization of the existing facility, which was built in 1961.

Dividend

The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share of Lamb Weston common stock. The dividend is payable on Sept. 3, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 6, 2021.