Kraft Heinz Co beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit on Thursday as the struggling packaged food company reined in costs in the face of slowing demand for some of its main brands.
The company has faced a rough year as it booked billions of dollars in writedowns in the value of some of its well-known brands, including Oscar Mayer, forcing it to slash dividends and scrap its full-year forecast.
Shares of the company, which owns the Velveeta cheese and Heinz ketchup brands, rose 4% to $29.85 in premarket trading after Kraft Heinz reported a near 25% drop in expenses to $767 million in the quarter.
Exceeds Expectations
Excluding items, the Chicago-based company earned 69 cents per share, handily beating expectations of 54 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net income attributable to the company's shareholders rose 45% to $899 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 28, although sales fell across regions.
Net sales fell nearly 5% to $6.08 billion, missing analysts' estimates of $6.13 billion.
News by Reuters, edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
