ConAgra Foods Q4 net income declined 43.8%
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The additional week in the year-ago period contributed an estimated 7% to sales.
The company plans to report its fiscal 2017 first quarter results in the ordinary course, as a consolidated enterprise, in September 2016. It expects that first quarter fiscal 2017 will show double-digit comparable year-over-year earnings per share growth due to a continuation of the productivity, price/mix, and cost discipline initiatives underway, as well as lower interest expense.
Net income attributable to the company for the fourth-quarter declined 43.8 percent to $117.6 million from the prior year's $209.2 million, with earnings per share decreasing to $0.27 from $0.49 last year.
Quarterly loss per share from continuing operations were $0.07, compared with earnings per share of $0.54 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. The reported loss in the latest-quarter was largely the result of a charge for the re-measurement of pension amounts.
After adjusting for items impacting comparability, comparable earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.52 the recent-quarter and $0.55 in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.52 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company estimated that the additional week in the year-ago period contributed an estimated 7% to sales and volume performance in results for the fiscal 2015 fourth quarter.
Net sales for the quarter dropped 9.5 percent to $2.83 billion from $3.13 billion in the prior year. Wall Street expected revenues of $2.89 billion for the quarter. ■