Heinz announces second-quarter profit rise

Heinz has announced its profit for the second-quarter has increased from the previous year.

Earnings per share rose over a fifth (22.5 per cent), while quarterly revenues grew 3.5 per cent.

As a result, the company has reaffirmed its earnings guidance for fiscal 2009.
However, sales of infant and nutrition products were down to $267.97 million (179 million pounds) from last year’s $268.88 million.

Chairman, president and chief executive officer William Johnson said in a statement: “I am pleased with the company’s second-quarter results, particularly given the difficult economic environment.”

“The company drove strong organic sales growth with many of our leading brands pricing to mitigate substantially higher commodity costs.”

Other results found net income of $276.71 million over the same period, with earnings per share also up 22.5 per cent to $0.87.

Heinz has – as a result – reaffirmed its earnings forecast in a target range of $2.87 to $2.91 per share, as part of an organic sales growth of at least six per cent, noting it intends to shift investments in marketing and research and development towards value-orientated innovation.

In other news, the company has been announced as leading the industry in customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.