Shares in Diamond Foods rose despite the US snack maker posting a second-quarter loss after the company’s sales and underlying earnings beat analyst expectations.

The owner of Kettle Chips incurred a net loss of $15.1m for the three months to the end of January, compared to net income of $10.1m a year earlier. The loss was due to a $7m warrant liability charge related to last year’s alleged accounting scandal. 

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Diamond also booked an $8.7m charge for the mark-to-market adjustment related to shares issuable in connection with the settlement of claims against the company.

However, the company reported earnings per share of $0.09 compared to Wall Street estimates of $0.08, according to BB&T Capital Markets analyst Brett Hundley.

Net sales for the quarter remained flat at $220.5m, “outpacing” consensus, Hundley added.

Income from operations dropped from $24.6m a year ago to $2m.  

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Excluding these charges, non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $2.6m, up on last year’s $1.1m figure.

Adjusted EBITDA, after reversing the charges associated with the lawsuit, SG&A costs and depreciation and amortization expenses, was up 24.4% at $28.5m.

For the first half of the year, Diamond posted a net loss of $57.2m. Non-GAAP net income, however, was up on the same period last year at $6.2m.

Diamond posted a loss from operations of $24.2m, versus income of $28.4m a year ago.

However, adjusted EBITDA was up at $57.6m, compared with $53.9m.

Sales fell 5% to $455.2m as nut sales slid 14%.

Shares in Diamond, which posted the results after the closing bell in New York, were up 5.84% at $31.70 in after-hours trading.

Hundley added: “The real story was the performance of its top-line; led by an impressive 11% growth in its Snacks division, revenues were in-line with last year. We had not expected this type of performance to arrive for another quarter.”

Click here for the full results.

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