Boston, MA 06/20/2014 (wallstreetpr) – ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) on June 18, 2014 announced that the comparable fiscal 2014 Q4 earnings per share (EPS) of the company will drop much below the prior forecasts. Although the financial details of the company have not yet been finalized, but the company still made the announcement; making it clear that the announcement was preliminary. However, the company said that it exceeded the operating cash flow as well as debt reduction targets for 2014 fiscal in its anticipation.
Lower than Expected EPS: A Result of Declining Volume in Consumer Foods segment
ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) said that the EPS in Q4 2014 will be around $0.55; lower than the previous anticipation of slightly more than $0.60. The EPS was calculated after adjusting all those items which impact the comparability.
Lower EPS is said to be a result of the 7% decline in the quarterly volume of Consumer Foods segment and also the weak profits for their Private Brands segment. The company had earlier given indication about this when it had started planning for improvement in the promotion strategies as well as product mix of the Consumer Foods segment. In terms of the Private Brands segment, the company said that it was focussing on margin improvement initiatives in order t offset the affect of pricing concessions.
Statement from the CEO of ConAgra Foods
The CEO of ConAgra Foods, Gary Rodkin in this context commented that the company expected an improvement in the volume performance in the 2015 fiscal year due to better promotion strategies and improvement in the product mix.
Quarterly Operating Profit for Private Brands will also Decline
The quarterly operating profit for the Private Brands might also indicate year-over-year decline in comparable terms. ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) might show a decline of around $60 million. However, in terms of long-term growth opportunities, the company said that it remained confident because of the strong value-added capabilities which it expects to leverage in the years to come.
