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Campbell Soup’s Q1 Profit Beats Estimate (CPB)

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Campbell Soup CoCampbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), a manufacturer and marketer of convenience food products, today reported better than expected first-quarter fiscal 2012 profit, driven by a decline in advertising and promotion expenses. The Camden, New Jersey-based company also reaffirmed its forecast for the full fiscal year.

Campbell, under its new CEO Denise Morrison, has slashed jobs and promotional spending to reduce its costs. The company also exited the Russian market. However, the company continues to face increasing competition in its core U.S. market.


For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, Campbell reported net earnings of $265 million, or $0.82 per share. For the same period in the previous year, the company had reported net earnings of $279 million.

Campbell’s sales for the quarter fell 1% to $2.16 billion. Analysts were expecting Campbell to report a profit of $0.79 per share and sales of $2.21 billion.

Campbell’s marketing and selling expenses dropped 6% on a year-over-year basis to $261 million.

CEO Morrison said that fiscal 2012 will be a year of investment as the company establishes the foundation for the next era of profitable growth. Morrison further said that while it is early in this transition year, the company’s efforts to stabilize U.S. soup profitability are on track and as planned it has raised prices in response to inflation and reduced ineffective marketing spending.

Morrison added that the company engaged in significantly less promotional spending and also began its U.S. Soup advertising later in the quarter to coincide with the start of the soup season. This, Morrison, said is part of a planned, full-year timing shift of the company’s media dollars into the soup season where they are most effective.

Campbell has also reaffirmed its forecast for fiscal 2012. The company continues to expect net sales growth of 0%-2% in 2012.

 

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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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