Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) stock was down in Friday’s premarket dealing as the market displayed a lukewarm response to ithe company's quarterly results.
The canned-soup company had US$285mln of net earnings, equating to 95 cents per share, up from US$101mln and 33 cents in the same period of 2016. It benefited from a US$124mln gain related to US tax changes.
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Net sales increased to US$2.18bn, up from US$2.17bn and ahead of market expectations which came in at US$2.16bn.
Executive commentary was less positive, however, with chief executive Denise Morrison describing it as a ‘disappointing’ quarter, specifically referencing a decline in organic sales.
READ: Campbell Soup's results leave bad taste in shareholders' mouths
“We are making progress with this customer and expect sales declines in soup to moderate in the second half," Morrison said.
Campbell stock was down US$1.22 or 3.25% changing hands at US$46.15 ahead of Friday’s open.