Sara Lee Posts Better than Expected Adjusted Profit for Q1 (SLE)

Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE), the Downers Grover, Illinois-based manufacturer and marketer of brand name products for consumers worldwide, today announced better than expected adjusted profit for the first quarter. However, the company slashed its sales forecast for the fiscal year 2012 due to unfavorable currency exchange rates.

Sara Lee reported a net loss of $217 million, or $0.37 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, compared with a profit of $192 million, or $0.29 per share reported for the same period in the previous year. Excluding one-time items, Sara Lee reported a profit of $0.18 per share, beating analysts’ estimate of a profit of $0.17 per share.

Sara Lee’s sales for the first quarter ended October 1 rose to $1.94 billion from $1.73 billion reported for the same period in the previous year. Analysts were expecting the company to report sales of $1.98 billion.

Sara Lee, which has announced plans to split into two companies, said it expects adjusted earnings of $0.89-$0.95 per share in fiscal 2012. However, the company has slashed its sales forecast for the fiscal year 2012 from a range of $8.5-$8.75 billion to $7.9-$8.15 billion. The sales forecast has been revised downwards due to unfavorable currency exchange rates and the reclassification of the company’s North American food-service beverage business as a discontinued operation.

Marcel Smits, CEO of Sara Lee, said that the company is pleased with the solid top and bottom line performances of its businesses while facing the challenge of managing volume and margins in an environment of commodity inflation and weak macroeconomic conditions.

Investors have reacted positively to Sara Lee’s first-quarter financial results as the company’s shares are climbing in early trading. At last check, Sara Lee shares were trading 4.80% higher at $18.45.

Sara Lee shares gained 5.08% so far this year, outperforming the S&P 500, which has fallen 1.21%.

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.