Heinz Tops Forecasts, Falls Short on Outlook

Food producer Heinz (HNZ) said Thursday a weak U.S. dollar helped it to an 18% earnings gain, beating analyst estimates, but projected FQ3 earnings per share that fell short of consensus estimates. Profit was $227 million ($0.71/share) on sales of $2.52 billion, up from $191.6 million ($0.57/share) on sales of $2.32 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting EPS of $0.67 on revenue of $2.4 billion. Looking ahead, Heinz raised the top end of its full-year outlook to $2.54-$2.62/share from $2.54-$2.60/share. Even so, the $2.58 midpoint fell short of the $2.61/share analysts forecast. North American sales grew 12.6%; European sales were up 18%; while sales in the Asia/Pacific region gained 16.8%. Operating income at its U.S. Foodservice unit took a 13.5% hit due to rising commodity costs, particularly dairy and oil. "It was a very strong quarter," Clover Capital Management portfolio manager Matthew Kaufler said. "If you look at the top-line momentum, and you look at the kind of pricing they have been able to realize to help offset the cost increases, it's pretty impressive." "We continue to be impressed with the new product pipeline with 200 new items expected this year," Credit Suisse analysts recently told clients in a research note. The firm rates the shares Outperform, with a $52 target. Shares are up 0.5% to $47.40 in pre-market trading.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg

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