Due to disappointing earnings throughout 2024, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.-based global food supplier Conagra Brands is lowering its earnings outlook for the remainder of its fiscal 2025 year.
In the earnings report for its second fiscal quarter of 2025, released on 19 December, Conagra reported that its gross profit was flat at USD 847 million (EUR 811 million), and its adjusted gross profit decreased 2.3 percent year over year to USD 842 million (EUR 806.6 million).
“Productivity and higher organic net sales were offset by the negative impacts of cost of goods sold inflation and unfavorable operating leverage,” the company said.
Reported diluted earnings per share fell 1.7 percent to USD 0.59 (EUR 0.57), and adjusted earnings per share declined 1.4 percent to USD 0.70 (EUR 0.67) in the period.
Operating profit for Conagra’s Refrigerated and Frozen segment plummeted 53.4 percent to USD 103 million (EUR 98.7 million), while sales in the segment were flat at USD 1.3 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) compared to the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.
As a result, the company is updating its fiscal 2025 guidance, expecting organic net sales to fall around 1.5 percent or remain flat compared to FY 2024.
“While momentum remains strong, we expect the business to be impacted by two headwinds in the back half, including higher-than-expected inflation and unfavorable foreign exchange rates, leading us to update our fiscal 2025 outlook,” Conagra President and CEO Sean Connolly said.
Despite the negative change to its earnings outlook, executives at Conagra, which manufactures frozen seafood brands Mrs. Paul’s and Van de Kamp’s, said they expect to see growth in seafood and other protein products as the fiscal year progresses.
One reason for the optimism, according to the company, is that there has been a recent surge in shoppers utilizing Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications for weight management and diabetes...
