Jif peanut butter maker JM Smucker beats quarterly profit estimates on price hikes
June 6 (Reuters) -Jif peanut butter maker JM Smucker SJM.N topped Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by higher prices of condiments and frozen food as well as lower input costs, sending its shares up 2% before the bell.
Benefits from price hikes helped the company shield its margins from rising costs of coffee. It further benefited from manufacturing and commodities prices coming down from their peak.
The Dunkin' pre-made coffee maker's gross margin rose 41.4% in the quarter.
On an adjusted basis, the company posted a quarterly profit of $2.66 per share, above market estimates of $2.33, according to LSEG data.
While the company increased prices to counter soaring raw material costs, it struggled with weaker demand as consumers grappled with still-high living costs traded down to cheaper alternatives.
JM Smucker's quarter sales dropped 1% to $2.21 billion, slightly below analysts' estimates of $2.24 billion.
Net sales for the company's domestic retail pet food segment declined 42% in the quarter ended April 30 after rising 9% last year owing to higher prices.
Last month, larger peers Kraft Heinz KHC.O and Hormel Foods HRL.N also reported quarterly sales below estimates owing to sluggish demand.
"In response to recent higher green coffee costs that we will begin to incur during the first quarter, we are taking a list price increase across parts of our portfolio in early June," CEO Mark Smucker said.
The Orville, Ohio-based company forecast annual sales of 9.5% to 10.5%, slightly above estimates of 9.85%.
Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
