Last month, Conagra completed the sale of its Italian frozen
pasta business, Gelit, to an Italian investment company owned
by Consilum SGR SpA, Progressio SGR SpA, and MMM Srl for undisclosed terms.
Updates on this deal and the company’s future plans will be something to watch.
The company’s bottomline is likely to be impacted by higher
costs. Investments being made in its frozen and snacking business units are
also likely to add to the expenses which could take a toll on earnings.
In the third quarter, Conagra topped earnings estimates despite a 16% decrease in adjusted EPS to $0.51. Net sales grew 35% to $2.7 billion but missed forecasts. The Grocery & Snacks and Refrigerated & Frozen segments continued their growth trend while Foodservice and International continued to see weakness.
For fiscal 2019, Conagra has guided for organic net sales to grow about 1%. Total company adjusted earnings from continuing operations are anticipated to be in the range of $2.03 to $2.08 per share.
Conagra’s shares have gained over 34% so far this year. The stock was down 1% in midday trade on Monday.