: Kellogg tops earnings estimates in Q1 and raises guidance

Kellogg Co. K said Thursday it had net income of $298 million, or 86 cents a share, for its fiscal first quarter to April 1, down from $422 million, or $1.23 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.10, ahead of the $1.00 FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $4.053 billion from $3.672 billion, also ahead of the $3.956 billion FactSet consensus. Sales rose across each of the company’s four regions after the company raised prices. led by snacks globally, noodles in Africa, and recovery in North America cereal. “With supply bottlenecks and shortages beginning to moderate, the company was able to improve its service levels and mitigate inefficiencies.,” Kellogg said in a statement. “Coupled with productivity initiatives and revenue growth management actions intended to cover high input-cost inflation, this has led to earlier progress toward recovering profit margins.” Kellogg, which is planning to spin off its North America cereals business in a deal expected to take place in the fourth quarter, is now expecting full-year organic sales — excluding currency effects — to grow 6% to 7%, up from prior guidance of 5% to 7%. It expects adjusted EPS to be down 1% to 3%, versus prior guidance of down 2% to 4%. The stock was flat premarket and is up 0.4% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 6.5%.

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