ConAgra Foods Q2 Profit Rises; Reaffirms FY14 Adj. EPS Guidance - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - ConAgra Foods, Inc. (CAG) reported that its second-quarter net income attributable to company increased to $248.7 million or $0.58 per share, from $211.6 million or $0.51 per share, last year. Earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.54, up from $0.52 in the year-ago period. Excluding items, current-quarter earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.62.

On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.55 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales rose year-over-year to $4.71 billion, from $3.73 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter.

The company continues to expect fiscal 2014 earnings per share, adjusted, to be in the range of $2.34-$2.38. Analysts expect the company to report fiscal 2014 earnings per share of $2.33.

The company said its long-term earnings per share growth rates, and multi-year synergy goals related to the Ralcorp acquisition, are unchanged from prior estimates. The company expects at least 10% annual comparable earnings per share growth in the fiscal 2015-2017 period, and expects the Ralcorp transaction to generate $300 million of annual pretax cost-related synergies by the end of fiscal 2017.