Kraft Heinz Co beat analyst expectations for third-quarter profit as the packaged food company reined in costs and increased prices in the face of slowing demand for some of its key brands.
The earnings beat comes after a rough year for Kraft Heinz, which slashed dividends and scrapped its full-year forecast after booking billions of dollars in writedowns on the value of some of its most well-known brands, including Oscar Mayer.
The company's procurement practices are also under investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Kraft Heinz shares have fallen by about 40% since February, when it disclosed the investigation and its first writedown.
Third-Quarter Results
Earnings excluding items fell 9.2% to 69 cents per share but beat the 54 cents expected by analysts, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Expenses fell by nearly 25% drop to $767 million (€687.7 million) in the quarter. The company increased product prices by 1% while sales volumes fell 2.1 percentage points.
"Price increases are evident in categories with cost inflation and the profit beat is a positive surprise," said Wells Fargo analyst John Baumgartner.
Net sales fell nearly 5% to $6.08 billion (€5.45 billion), missing analysts' estimates of $6.13 billion (€5.50 billion).
Net income attributable to the company's shareholders rose 45% to $899 million (€806.01 million) in the third quarter ended 28 September.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
