Kraft Tops Second Quarter Expectations

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Last Update: 04-Aug-11 11:58 ET

Kraft (KFT $35.27 +0.97) reported second quarter earnings of $0.62 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.58.

Revenues rose 13.3% year/year to $13.88 billion versus the $13.14 billion consensus, including a 2.1 percentage point benefit from accounting calendar changes.

Organic Net Revenues grew 7.1%, driven by robust growth in all geographies. Pricing, which accounted for 5.5 percentage points of growth, was up strongly in each geography as pricing actions announced earlier in the year continued to be implemented. Market share performance was solid despite the company's pricing actions. Volume/mix contributed 1.6 percentage points to growth, including an ~1.5 percentage point benefit from the shift of Easter-related shipments into the quarter.

For fiscal year 2011, the company, the company raised its earnings guidance to $2.20 to $2.25, excluding non-recurring items, from $2.20 versus the $2.23 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; company raises organic net rev growth guidance to at least 5% from at least 4%.

The company said, "We've raised our 2011 guidance to reflect our strong operating results and favorable currency through the first half. Despite rising input costs and a volatile economic environment, aggressive cost management coupled with strong revenue growth gives us confidence that we will deliver top-tier performance for the year."