Kraft Foods Inc.'s (KFT: Quote) fourth-quarter net earnings attributable to the company climbed to $830 million or $0.47 per share from $540 million or $0.31 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Including a negative impact from foreign currency of $0.01, quarterly operating earnings per share amounted to $0.57 versus last year's $0.46. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.57 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net revenues for the fourth quarter were $14.69 billion, up 6.6 percent from $13.77 billion a year earlier, with organic net revenues up 6.1 percent. Analysts estimated revenues of $14.79 billion for the quarter
For 2012, Kraft Foods sees organic net revenue growth of nearly 5 percent, including a negative impact of up to one percentage point from product pruning in North America, with operating earnings per share anticipated to grow at least 9 percent on a constant currency basis, despite a higher effective tax rate and a 4 percentage point headwind from higher pension costs.
Further, the company said it would incur one-time restructuring, transition and transaction costs of $1.6 billion - $1.8 billion as it prepares to separate into two companies later this year. Also, the company anticipates that it may incur between $400 million and $800 million of potential debt breakage and financing fees as it executes a migration of debt to the North American grocery company.
Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO remarked, "We expect to deliver top-tier growth in 2012, in line with our long-term targets, while we prepare to successfully launch the North American grocery and global snacks companies later this year."
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by RTT Staff Writer
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