Kraft profit up 1.8%, backs 2012 outlook
2012-05-04 16:10:41
Kraft Foods late Thursday reported first-quarter profit rose 1.8% to $813 million, or 46 cents a share, from $799 million, or 45 cents a share, in the same 2011 period. Sales for the maker of Oscar Mayer lunch meats and Cadbury chocolates increased 4% to $13.1 billion. Organic sales growth was 6.5%. Prices were up 5.5%. Volume ticked up 1%. Excluding items, Kraft said operating earnings were 57 cents. That was 1 cent higher than the consensus analyst forecast, according to FactSet. Kraft backed its 2012 outlook. In recent months, Kellogg /quotes/zigman/231157/quotes/nls/k K +0.40% and General Mills /quotes/zigman/227548/quotes/nls/gis GIS -0.57% have cut their targets. Kraft, the world's No. 2 food company, plans to split its snacks and grocery units by the end of this year. Its shares -- trading near 52-week highs -- are up 17% over the past 12 months, outpacing the 3% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The stock closed Thursday at $39.59 ahead of the report.