B&G Foods, the US food group behind brands including Molly McButter cheese and sprinkles TrueNorth snacks, saw its shares tumble today (13 February) despite higher profits.
The company booked fourth-quarter net income of US$18.8m for the three months to 28 December, compared to $9.6m a year earlier.
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B&G’s bottom line was boosted by lapping a fourth quarter of 2012 that included losses on the extinguishment of debt.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter, which stripped out the impact of the debt charge and M&A costs, were $20.7m, or $0.39 per share.
However, a poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters showed Wall Street forecast adjusted earnings of $0.44.
A jump in sales helped push up B&G’s operating income in the fourth quarter. Operating income was $39.9m, up from $37.4m a year ago.
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By GlobalDataNet sales increased 21.8% to $211.5m, boosted by the company’s recent acquisitions.
President and CEO David Wenner said 2013 had been “an exciting and dynamic year for our company”.
He said: “We completed three strategic acquisitions during the year and once again set company records in net sales, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA. Despite industry wide volume weakness, our base business remained relatively stable, with net sales declining less than 1% for the year, while acquisitions brought overall net sales growth for the year to a 14.4% increase.”
Shares in B&G were down 6.71% at $28.63 at 10:11 ET today.
