Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cereal is pictured at a Ralphs grocery store in Pasadena, California August 3, 2015. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
August 2, 2018
(Reuters) – Cereal maker Kellogg Co <K.N> topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales and profit and raised its full-year outlook on Thursday, betting on its recent acquisition of protein bar RXBAR and Nigeria’s Multipro.
Kellogg, struggling with shifting trends as more consumers opt for low-sugar options, protein bars and yogurt for breakfast over cereals, has been buying smaller snack brands that promote healthy eating and expanding in emerging economies.
Kellogg bought RXBAR for $600 million in 2017 and Brazil’s Parati for $429 million in 2016. It also made a $400 million investment in Nigeria’s Tolaram Africa Foods to enter west African markets.
“This is starting to show up in our net sales and our in-market performance, and puts us in a position to raise our full-year guidance,” Chief Executive Officer Steve Cahillane said in a statement.
Kellogg said it expects net sales to rise 4-5 percent in fiscal 2018, and earnings per share to grow 11-13 percent. The company had previously forecast a sales rise of 3-4 percent and earnings per share growth of 9-11 percent.
Its net income rose to $596 million, or $1.71 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $283 million, or 80 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Kellogg earned $1.14 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.05, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net sales rose 5.8 percent to $3.36 billion, topping the estimate of $3.30 billion.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
