CAG ConAgra Brands Inc

TreeHouse Foods Inc., which expects to close its deal soon for ConAgra Foods Inc.'s private-label business, raised its earnings forecast for 2015 but said sales declined in its latest quarter on foreign-exchange pressures and weaker coffee pricing.

Treehouse said it expects to report earnings, excluding special items, of $3.14 to $3.17 a share for 2015. In November, it had forecast $3 to $3.15 a share in earnings.

For its recently ended fourth quarter, Treehouse expects to report that sales fell 4% to a range of $860 million to $870 million. Analysts were expecting $877 million in revenue for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

Treehouse said it continues to be pressured by lower coffee prices and unfavorable Canadian foreign exchange.

It expects its gross margin to improve by 1.5 percentage points, in part due to lower commodity costs.

TreeHouse will report full results for the quarter on Feb. 11.

TreeHouse said it expects to close on its acquisition of Conagra's private-label business in the first quarter. For the full 2016 year, it is expecting earnings of $2.95 to $3.10 a share. Analysts had forecast $3.26 a share in adjusted earnings.

TreeHouse struck the $2.7 billion deal with ConAgra in November, a bet that will more than double its annual sales and make TreeHouse the biggest U.S. maker of store-branded groceries. The deal comes at a time when competition for shelf space is stiff while growth for conventional packaged foods remains sluggish.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2016 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

ConAgra Brands (NYSE:CAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

ConAgra Brands (NYSE:CAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024