TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) cut its full year earnings view,
below Wall Street projections, citing a 8 percent fall in December
volumes.
The Westchester, Illinois-based company, which services mainly the
retail grocery and foodservice channels, sees 2011 adjusted earnings
between $2.70 and $2.73 per share from $2.90 to $3.00 per share
projected earlier. Analysts expect the company to earn $2.94 a share for
2011.
TreeHouse Foods attributed the downward revision to decrease in
consumer food purchases, sales shift towards alternate channel retailers
and negative impact of warm weather in the Midwest and Northeast on
seasonal sales.
It sees fourth quarter earnings per share in the range of 84 cents to 87 cents, while analysts expect $1.07.
"The combination of consumer purchase behavior, retail channel shifts
and abnormal seasonality adversely affected our results in the
quarter," said chief executive Sam Reed.
TreeHouse Foods preliminary total fourth quarter revenue rose 5
percent to about $535 million. It expects gross margin to contract to 22
percent from 24.8 percent in the year-ago period.
THS ended Thursday's regular trading session at $62.86. The stock has
been trading in the 52-week range between $46.73 and $67.25.
