US food conglomerate ConAgra reports slight miss in earnings and revenue; stock falls

ConAgra Brands Inc (NYSE:CAG) reported on Thursday a slight miss in earnings per share and revenue for the fiscal first quarter of 2019, prompting shares to slump as a result.

The company said first-quarter revenue came in 1.7% higher than last year’s $1.8 billion, but below the consensus expectation of $1.85 billion. Earnings per share were at $0.47, which was in line with the company’s guidance and up from last year’s $0.46, but the number was below the expected EPS of $0.49.

Shares of the company fell 5.5% to $34.07 in early trade on Thursday. The stock dropped 6.4% in the premarket to $33.78 after closing on Wednesday 0.4% lower at $36.06.

READ: Conagra Brands reaches US$10.9bn deal to acquire Pinnacle Foods

“Fiscal 2019 is off to a good start despite a continued, challenging inflationary environment,” said Sean Connolly, the president and CEO of ConAgra Brands.

He expects the next challenge would be the addition of Pinnacle Foods with the transaction expected to close by the end of October 2018. A special meeting of Pinnacle Foods shareholders is scheduled for October 23 where they will be asked to approve the sale to ConAgra.

The company reiterated its guidance for fiscal 2019 which would be net sales growth in the range of 0.5% to 1.5%.

ConAgra Brands is one of North America’s leading branded food companies, whose product line includes Marie Callender’s, Hunt’s and Healthy Choice among others.

The company is based in Chicago.

Story by ProactiveInvestors