Conagra Brands reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share, topping the $0.28 consensus estimate, sending shares up about 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday. Revenue of $2.60 billion was roughly in line with expectations of $2.59 billion. Adjusted net income rose 4.3% year over year to $197.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 2.4% to $451.4 million and adjusted EPS rose 5.1% from a year earlier. The results came despite organic net sales declining 1.1%, with volume down 2.1% and price/mix up 1.0%; Grocery & Snacks organic sales fell 2.0% and Refrigerated & Frozen declined 1.6%, while Foodservice organic sales rose 3.3% and adjusted operating profit increased 11.4%. Adjusted operating profit fell 4.1% to $297.9 million, with adjusted operating margin down 33 basis points to 11.5%, and gross margin declined 62 basis points to 23.8%. Reported net income rose 6% to $174.3 million, with diluted EPS up to $0.36 from $0.34 a year earlier, and the company ended the quarter with net debt of $7.39 billion, down from $7.58 billion a year earlier, though free cash flow was negative $127.9 million compared with negative $26.2 million in the prior-year quarter.
Conagra Brands, Inc.Conagra's Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.41 beat the $0.28 consensus, driving shares up 3%.
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