(Reuters) – Campbell Soup Co forecast annual core sales and profit above estimates on Thursday, as higher prices fail to quell demand for the Prego pasta sauces owner’s packaged meals and canned soups.
Packaged food makers have steadily raised prices on everything from cookies to beef jerky as they try to insulate their margins from increased costs ranging from labor and ingredients to transportation without drawing consumer ire.
The pandemic-led boom in demand has also been holding strong, with some of its peers including Kellogg, J.M. Smucker and Kraft Heinz Co raising annual forecasts in recent months.
Campbell Soup said it expects fiscal year 2023 organic net sales to grow between 4% and 6%, higher than the average analyst estimate of a 2.9% rise.
It also expects fiscal year 2023 adjusted earnings per share growth of flat to 4%, compared to expectations of a 2.7% increase.
The company’s net sales rose 6% to $2.0 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts on average had expected sales of $1.99 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
(Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
