Sara Lee to take charges for bakery businesses

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sara Lee Corp (SLE.N) on Tuesday said it will post about $1 billion in impairment charges in its recently ended fourth quarter, largely related to the falling value of some bakery operations.

The company said it would incur a non-cash impairment charge of between $865 million and $975 million, or $1.17 to $1.32 per share, in its fourth quarter ended June 28. That charge is largely related to its North American Foodservice and Spanish bakery units.

Those units did not show the improvement the company was hoping for in the second half of its fiscal year and have also been hurt by soaring wheat costs, Sara Lee said.

"While this goodwill impairment charge is required, we retain our longer-term positive view of these businesses," said Brenda Barnes, Sara Lee chairman and chief executive.

The company also said it will post a non-cash pretax write-down of $65 million to $75 million related to other assets in North America.

Sara Lee shares were up 4 cents at $12.91 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman, editing by Mark Porter)