US cereal giant Kellogg has booked a drop in first-half profit as raw material prices and weakness in Europe weighed on earnings.
Net profit in the six months to the end of June amounted to US$659m,a 7%decline on the prior-year period,Kellogg reported today(2 August).
The group cited weakness in Europe as one of the reasons for the decline,where operating profits fell 26.1%to$150m.Meanwhile,in North America,operating profits climbed 5.3%to$140m.
Group operating profits slid 8.1%to$1.02bn,while sales edged up 0.6%to$6.91bn.
The company reaffirmed its guidance for full-year internal net sales growth of between 2%to 3%.In addition,Kellogg said it continues to expect full-year internal operating profit to decline between 2%to 4%.
Expectations remain for full-year,as-reported EPS to be in the range of$3.18 and$3.30,including the anticipated impact of the Pringles acquisition,it said.
