Kraft Heinz beats quarterly estimates, takes nearly $3 billion writedown

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Kraft Heinz Co on Thursday reported quarterly results that exceeded expectations and took a nearly $3 billion charge to write down the value of several businesses, including its Oscar Mayer deli meat and Maxwell House coffee brands.

Shares of the Chicago-based company rose more than 2% in premarket trading.

Due to the impairment charges, the company reported a second-quarter loss attributable to common shareholders of $1.65 billion, or $1.35 per share, compared with a profit of $449 million, or 37 cents a share a year earlier.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings were 80 cents per share, handily beating analysts’ average estimate of 65 cents, according to Refinitiv.

Sales rose 3.8% to $6.65 billion in the second quarter ended June 27, beating expectations for $6.54 billion.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; editing by Jason Neely and Bernadette Baum)