Campbell Soup Swings To Profit In Q4 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Soup maker Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) posted net earnings attributable to the company of $137 million, or $0.43 per share in the fourth quarter, as against a loss of $158 million, or $0.50 per share, last year.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Campbell implemented initiatives to enhance supply chain efficiency in Australia and reduce overhead across the organization. The firm recorded pre-tax restructuring charges of $20 million pertaining to these initiatives. Furthermore, the company incurred pre-tax restructuring-related costs of $1 million associated with the prior announced initiatives. Also, it recognized an additional pre-tax pension settlement charge of $4 million in relation with a U.S. pension plan. Excluding items impacting comparability in both periods, adjusted earnings from continuing operations amounted to $155 million, or $0.49 per share for the recent period. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.49 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The quarter benefited from an additional week in fiscal 2014, contributing an estimated $25 million to earnings from continuing operations and $0.08 to earnings per share from continuing operations, Campbell noted.

Quarterly net sales grew 7 percent to $1.85 billion from the prior year's $1.72 billion, while organic sales decreased by 2 percent. Twelve analysts estimated $1.87 billion in sales for the quarter.

From the adjusted 52-week 2014 base, the company expects continuing operations to grow sales by 1 to 2 percent, adjusted EBIT to grow by 0 to 2 percent and adjusted per-share earnings to grow by 0 to 2 percent, or $2.45 to $2.50 per share.