Campbell Soup reports 2nd quarter loss

[February 27, 2019] CHICAGO (Reuters) - Campbell Soup Co on Wednesday reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings, helped by its acquisitions of Snyder's-Lance and Pacific Foods.

Excluding items, the company earned 77 cents a share in the second quarter ended Jan. 27, beating the average analyst estimate of 70 cents, according to Refinitiv data. Campbell's shares jumped 5 percent in premarket trading.

Net sales rose 24 percent to $2.71 billion. However, Campbell reported a net quarterly loss, hurt by higher restructuring costs and a $346 million writedown of its struggling fresh food business.

This is the fourth time Camden, New Jersey-based Campbell has written down the value of its fresh unit since September 2016, knocking about $1.35 billion off its value in total. The unit, which was put up for sale in August after a months-long strategic review, includes Bolthouse Farms.

The net loss attributable to Campbell was $59 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with earnings of $285 million, or 95 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminsk

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