Kraft Pursues as Unilever Rejects; Campbell Sales Suffer with Fresh Troubles

Mukesh Buch
17 Feb, 2017
New York City

Campbell Soup net tumbled on problems in fresh division. Deere & Co lifted net income forecast on expected recovery. Fannie Mae net swung to profit. Nu Skin plunges on disappointing sales trend. Kraft Heinz offered $143 billion to rival but Unilever.

[R]12:45 PM New York – Campbell Soup net tumbled on problems in fresh division. Deere & Co lifted net income forecast on expected recovery. Fannie Mae net swung to profit. Nu Skin plunges on disappointing sales trend. Kraft Heinz offered $143 billion to rival but Unilever.[/R]

Tollbooth Index increased 39.95 or 0.3% to 11,703.72.

Earnings Review

Campbell Soup Company ((CPB)) plunged 6.2% or $3.87 to $58.67 after the food and beverages maker said revenues in the second-quarter ending in December fell 1.4% from a year ago at $2.17 billion.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 61.9% to $101 million or 33 cents per diluted share compared to $265 million or 85 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

""""I am not satisfied with our sales performance this quarter,"""" said chief executive officer Denise Morrison.

Deere & Company ((DE)) slid 20 cents to $108.97 after the agriculture, turf and construction equipment maker said revenues in the first-quarter ending in December rose 1.8% from a year ago at $5.6 billion.

Net income in the quarter plunged 23.8% to $193.8 million or 61 cents per diluted share compared to $254.4 million or 80 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Deere lifted fiscal 2017 net income forecast to about $1.5 billion from the earlier estimates of $1.4 billion and said revenues are likely to drop 1%.

Fannie Mae, the largest liquidity to the mortgage market provider said revenues in the year ending in December slid 0.5% from a year ago to $21.3 billion.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $77 million or 1 cent per diluted share compared to a loss of $262 million or 5 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Fannie Mae paid $9.6 billion in dividends to the U.S. Treasury in 2016 and the lender estimated $5.5 billion in dividends in March 2017.

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc ((NUS)) plunged 7.5% or $4.14 to $51 after the personal care and nutritional products maker said revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December declined 7.1% from a year ago to $531.3 million.

Net income in the quarter jumped 6.7% to $38.2 million or 69 cents per diluted share compared to $35.8 million or 62 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

""""For the first quarter, we forecasted revenue in the range of $480 million to $500 million, assuming a 1% to 2% negative impact from foreign currency and earnings per share between 47 cents and 51 cents,"""" chief financial officer Ritch Wood said.

“We reaffirmed revenue in the year between $2.26 billion and $2.30 billion and earnings per share in the range of $3.10 to $3.25, assuming 3% to 4% negative foreign currency impact,” added Wood.

Kraft Heinz Co ((KHC)) jumped 7.6% or $6.64 to $93.93 after the food and beverage maker confirmed that it had offered $143 billion for the U.K.-based rival Unilever Plc, representing 18% premium to the closing price of February 16, 2017.

However, Unilever said the offer of $50 per share, made up of $30.23 in cash and the rest in stock “fundamentally undervalues” the company and is not a basis for any financial or strategic discussion.

Kraft said it is """"working to reach agreement on the terms of a transaction.""""