Sept 30 (Reuters) – Conagra Brands beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit and sales on Wednesday, helped by a better pricing and product mix.
“While there is more work to be done, we remain on track to deliver the year,” said CEO John Brase.
Conagra had halved its annual dividend in July and said it was reviewing its non-core assets, with new CEO Brase stating that brands that were not playing a great strategic role could be divested and others added.
Net sales in the Refrigerated & Frozen segment fell 2.1% from a year earlier during the quarter, while volumes decreased 1% and prices fell 1.5%.
Pricing and product mix contributed 1% to total organic net sales, partly offsetting lower volumes, Conagra said.
The company’s total quarterly net sales came in at $2.60 billion, beating estimates of $2.59 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Adjusted gross profit for the first quarter fell 3.9% from a year earlier, slightly offset by $4 million in tariff refunds.
Quarterly adjusted earnings per share stood at 41 cents, compared with analysts’ estimates of 28 cents. Conagra also reaffirmed its annual sales and profit forecasts.
Shares of the Hunt’s ketchup-maker were down 3% in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Koyena Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
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