(RTTNews) -  Consumer food products company H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ: News ) on Wednesday reiterated its earnings per share growth and sales growth forecast for the full year 2010.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company said it continues to expect fiscal 2010 constant currency earnings per share growth in a range of 5% to 8%, representing earnings in the range of $3.05 to $3.13 per share, based on earnings of $2.90 per share reported last year.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently anticipate earnings of $2.69 per share for fiscal 2010, with estimates ranging from $2.60 to $2.83 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William Johnson reaffirmed the forecast at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Pittsburgh, also adding that the company delivered record sales and profit and a sizeable increase in the dividend for fiscal 2009, despite a difficult global economic environment. However, the company had warned earlier that fiscal 2010 financial results will "likely be affected by unprecedented currency volatility."

In a statement, chairman, president and chief executive officer, William Johnson said, "In Fiscal 2010, we expect our proven plan to drive continued growth on a constant currency basis, although we anticipate that the stronger dollar and foreign currency volatility will likely impact our reported results given that 60% of our sales and profits are generated from operations outside the United States."

The maker of Heinz ketchup, Ore-Ida frozen potatoes and other packaged foods also reaffirmed its fiscal 2010 sales growth forecast in a range of 4% to 6%, on a constant currency basis. This represents annual sales of between $10.56 billion and $10.76 billion, based on last year's reported sales of $10.15 billion.
Ten Wall Street analysts currently have a consensus revenue estimate of $10.35 billion for the full year 2010, with estimates ranging from $9.70 billion to $10.64 billion.

Further, Heinz expects operating income for fiscal 2010 to grow 6% to 8%, and anticipates another strong year of cash generation with operating free cash flow of $850 million to $900 million during the year.

In late May, H.J. Heinz reported a 10% year-over-year decline in profit for the fourth quarter, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar that cut into revenue from overseas markets, in addition to declining restaurant sales. A stronger dollar has hurt the company as it derives 60% of its revenues from non-U.S. operations, largely from the U.K. and Europe that were engulfed in the economic meltdown. Net income declined to $175.14 million or $0.55 per share from $194.06 million or $0.61 per share in the prior-year quarter. Sales for the quarter were $2.54 billion, down 5.6% from $2.69 billion in the year-ago quarter.

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