Alpro and Silk owner WhiteWave Foods today (10 November) lifted its forecasts for 2014 sales and underlying earnings per share after reporting a “record” third quarter.
However, shares in the US group fell, to the surprise of some analysts.
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WhiteWave said it expects its net sales to grow “in the low to mid-thirties” on a percentage basis. Excluding the acquisition of US organic business Earthbound Farm earlier this year, WhiteWave now estimates its net sales will increase 11% this year, up from an earlier forecast of an 8-9% rise.
In the third quarter of the year, WhiteWave saw its net sales jump by more than a third to US$857m. On an organic basis, net sales grew 12%.
“Our organic net sales growth of 12% in the third quarter is the highest rate we achieved this year. Impressive results by our market-leading brands in North America and Europe powered another strong quarter as consumers across continents are increasingly looking for great-tasting, healthy and responsibly produced foods and beverages,” chairman and CEO Gregg Engles said.
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Net income jumped 68% to $41m. On an adjusted basis, excluding items like commodity hedging costs and charges from the spin-off from Dean Foods last year, net income was up 38% at $47m.
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By GlobalDataOperating income leapt 74% to $73m. Adjusted operating income increased 50% to $82m.
For 2014, WhiteWave said it expects adjusted total operating income to rise in the mid-forties on a percentage basis. In August, the company had published a range from the low to the mid-forties.
WhiteWave also updated its forecasts for its 2014 adjusted diluted earnings per share. It had estimated EPS would be between $0.98 and $1.00 – excluding investments in its joint venture in China – but today forecast a range of between $0.99 and $1.00.
The company said the new forecast was essentially an increase of $0.02-0.03 cents a share as it includes the impact from higher interest expenses as a result of notes issued in the third quarter of the year.
Shares in WhiteWave were down 3.41% at $35.67 at 14:01 ET.
One analyst admitted they had been “struggling” to work out why WhiteWave’s shares fell, pointing to the company’s results beating forecast and the increase to its EPS forecast. “It is a beat and raise, maybe just not as much as investors wanted,” the analyst said. “[The] long-term thesis is intact. There was no real source of controversy here, in our view.”
However, BMO Capital Markets analyst Amit Sharma added: “Expectations were relatively high going into the quarter and there is some disappointment with the magnitude of [the] beat and raise.”
