Conagra, the maker of Hunt’s ketchup, said sales for the fiscal first quarter fell to $2.65 billion.
Photo: Justen Williams for the Wall Street Journal
Conagra Brands Inc. CAG 0.30% said it expects higher inflation for its full year and posted lower quarterly profit, as sales slipped from last year’s surge in at-home food demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chicago packaged-foods company behind Slim Jim meat sticks and PAM cooking spray on Thursday said it expects gross inflation to be about 11% for fiscal 2022, compared with its prior outlook of about 9%. Conagra said it plans to continue adjusting prices and taking cost-saving measures.
Conagra is the latest among food companies that have said they are paying more for ingredients and materials, including cooking oil and steel, amid rising costs for freight, fuel and labor. General Mills Inc. last month projected higher inflation as it grapples with growing labor, transport and supply-chain costs.
For the quarter ended Aug. 29, Conagra posted a net income attributable to the company of $235.4 million, compared with $329 million in the same period last year. Net sales for the fiscal first quarter fell to $2.65 billion from $2.68 billion, ahead of expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.
Foodservice net sales rose 20.9% to $240 million as restaurant traffic continued to recover from the effects of the pandemic, the company said. Sales for the grocery and snacks segment, however, fell 4.9% to $1.1 billion.
Overall, the company still expects elevated consumer demand. It expects organic net sales for fiscal 2022 to rise about 1%, compared with its prior outlook of about flat.
Write to Dave Sebastian at [email protected]
Copyright ©2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
