Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ:KHC) saw its shares retreat in pre-market trading as the food giant saw its adjusted fourth-quarter earnings and sales miss market expectations.
The Nasdaq-listed firm reported quarterly adjusted earnings per share of 90 US cents per share, below the consensus forecasts for 95 US cents, on sales of US$6.88bn, up from US$6.86bn a year earlier, but also below the US$6.91bn consensus.
READ: Kraft Heinz sees first quarter profit fall, hurt by a strong dollar and weak demand in the US and Canada
The group’s reported fourth-quarter net income was US$8.0bn, or US$6.52 per share, up from US$944.0mln, or 77 US cents per share for the same period last year.
The firm’s US sales fell 1.1% to US$4.8bn, with volumes down 1.7 percentage points driven by distribution losses in the club channel for Planters nuts, lower shipments of natural cheese and service-related losses in cold cuts.
Kraft Heinz’s chief executive David Knopf said the company has made US$300mln in strategic investments and US$800mln in capital expenditures to improve the business since the US tax overhaul was put in place.
In pre-market trading in New York, Kraft Heinz shares were down 1.2% at US$71.85.