JM Smucker has booked an increase in second-quarter earnings and raised its outlook for the full-year.
The US spreads-to-coffee group said that quarterly profits rose to US$148.8m in the three month period, up from $127.2m in the comparable period of last year.
Sales rose 8% to $1.63bn, up from $1.51bn last year. The company said that revenue gains were driven by the acquisition of the Sara Lee foodservice business, which contributed $90.7m to sales in the quarter. However, the company said that pricing was down in the period as declining coffee prices more than offset higher peanut butter price realisation.
Nevertheless, the group was upbeat on its full-year prospects and suggested that the industry was starting to benefit from the early signs of an upswing in consumer confidence.
"Overall consumer spending appears to be on the upswing which is welcome news for the industry," COO and president Vince Byrd commented.
Smucker raised its fiscal year 2013 earnings guidance to a range of $5.12 to $5.22 per share, from $5-5.10 a share.
