CAMDEN (dpa-AFX) - correction: corrects the last para to say the company sees 2012 sales near the lower end of the range.
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) posted lower third-quarter net earnings attributable to the company of $177 million, or $0.55 per share, compared with $187 million, or $0.57 per share last year.
The company said the recent quarter's reported net profit included charges related to a restructuring program announced in June 2011. Excluding items impacting comparability, quarterly adjusted net earnings decreased to $180 million or $0.56 per share. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.52 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net sales totaled $1.82 billion, versus $1.81 billion in the prior-year quarter, whereas thirteen analysts estimated revenues of $1.81 billion for the quarter.
For fiscal 2012, the company still expects net sales growth to be between 0 and 2 percent, a decline in adjusted earnings per share of between 7 and 5 percent, thereby putting it in the range of $2.35 - $2.42. Seventeen analysts project earnings of $2.37 per share for the full year. Also, Campbell Soup anticipates to achieve this guidance range, with sales near the lower end of the range and adjusted earnings per share, benefiting from a favorable tax rate, near the upper end of the range.
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