UPDATE 2-Pilgrim's Pride reports profitable quarter

* Bankruptcy court filing shows profit

* Pilgrim's reports Q4 profit of $56.71 million

* Revenue $1.63 billion (Adds analyst comment)

CHICAGO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Bankrupt U.S. chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp PGPDQ.PK reported a $56.71 million profit for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 26 and said on Wednesday that, upon exiting bankruptcy, it will be a "stronger, leaner company."

The financial report was filed late on Tuesday as required by the bankruptcy court. It is not comparable with quarterly earnings reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission because the data may be incomplete. But it does give an indication of the company's financial health.

Revenue for the quarter was $1.63 billion.

Pilgrim's Pride entered bankruptcy in December 2008 and did not file a fiscal 2008 fourth quarter earnings report, but at that time it had forecast a fourth quarter loss of $802 million on sales of $2.17 billion.

It filed a reorganization plan in September and expects to exit bankruptcy by the end of this year.

As part of its reorganization plan, Pilgrim's Pride agreed in September to sell a majority stake to Brazilian meat company JBS SA (JBSS3.SA). Earlier this month, U.S. regulators approved that deal, but bankruptcy court approval is still needed.

While under bankruptcy protection, Pilgrim's Pride has closed and sold plants and reduced production.

"Our financial position has improved significantly this year," Pilgrim's Pride spokesman Gary Rhodes said in an email on Wednesday. "We have returned to profitability, the quality of our asset base has improved significantly and we are gaining additional business."

Pilgrim's Pride and other chicken companies lost money in 2008 because of high feed costs and low chicken prices. Since then, feed costs have come down and producers have cut output.

"They have been profitable for some time and we have seen chicken prices stabilize," Rich Nelson, analyst at Allendale, said of chicken companies. "They have taken advantage of low feed costs the past few months."

Pilgrim's Pride shares were unchanged at $6.40 in afternoon Pink Sheets trading. (Reporting by Bob Burgdorfer, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon)