Packaged food maker Sara Lee Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday and said full-year earnings would be in the middle of its forecast range.

Shares of the company, which is in the process of splitting into two, fell 1.4 percent in premarket trading.

Earnings from continuing operations were $38 million, or 6 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter ended on March 31, down from $124 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs earned 20 cents per share.

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On that basis, analysts on average had been expecting 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales from continuing operations were $1.9 billion.

The company, which is in the process of splitting into two, said full-year 2012 adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations would be in the middle of its range of 89 cents to 95 cents per share.

Sara Lee shares fell 32 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $22 in premarket trading.