Campbell Soup lifts sales forecast on strong demand, higher prices

[June 08, 2022]  (Reuters) - Campbell Soup Co raised its annual core sales forecast on Wednesday, benefiting from higher prices and robust demand for its broths and sauces, sending its shares up 3% in premarket trade.

Packaged food makers are seeing the pandemic-driven boom in demand holding strong, while price increases are also boosting their revenue, with firms including Kellogg and Kraft Heinz Co also raising annual forecasts in recent months.

Campbell is also benefiting from easing supply chain issues and improvement in staffing, helping it ramp up production and inventory back to normal levels following more than a year of pandemic-induced shipping strains and worker shortages.

The company said it expects fiscal year 2022 organic net sales to rise between 1% and 2%, compared with its prior estimate of a 1% decline to a 1% rise.

Net sales rose to $2.13 billion in the third quarter ended May 1, from $1.98 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average expected revenue of $2.05 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Net earnings attributable to the company rose to $188 million, or 62 cents per share, from $160 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

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