Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz has announced a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit and forecast earnings for the year.
The company also said it may have to write down its investment in organic food company Hain Celestial Group.
Net income rose to $199 million (€152.3 million), or 56 cents a share, in the fiscal second quarter ended October 27th, from $191.5 million, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier, Pittsburgh-based Heinz said.
Analysts on average forecast 59 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales rose to €1.68 billion from €1.59 billion, boosted by volume growth of Ore-Ida frozen potatoes and Delimex snacks in North America.
Heinz said it is still on track to earn $2.32 to $2.42 per share this year but expects results to come in toward the lower half of that range. Analysts, on average, forecast full-year profit of $2.37 per share.
Gross profit margin fell 1 percentage point in the second quarter to 36.4 per cent due to issues such as raw material and production costs in the European seafood business, a $21.1 million charge for trade spending for the Italian infant nutrition business, and higher commodity and fuel costs, the company said.
