TreeHouse Foods Q3 Results Miss View; Lowers FY16 Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - TreeHouse Foods Inc. (THS) reported an increase in net income for the third quarter from last year, while earnings per share were flat with the prior year. However, both revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the quarter missed analysts' estimates.

Looking ahead, the company forecast earnings for the fourth quarter below analysts' expectations and also lowered its earnings forecast for fiscal 2016.

TreeHouse Foods' third-quarter net income was $37.2 million or $0.65 per share, up from $28.4 million or $0.65 per share in the year-ago period.

The latest quarter's results include restructuring costs of $0.10 per share and acquisition costs of $0.08 per share, among others.

Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.70, compared to $0.86 per share in the same period last year. On average, analyst polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.78 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the third quarter rose 99 percent to $1.59 billion from $798.6 million last year, due to the inclusion of business from the acquisition of the private brands operations of ConAgra Foods, Inc. and favorable volume/mix, primarily in the North American Retail Grocery segment. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.64 billion.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects reported and adjusted earnings in a range of $1.07 to $1.12 per share. Analysts expect the company to earn $1.25 per share for the quarter.

For fiscal 2016, the company lowered its earnings expectations due to the combination of lower than expected third quarter sales from the Private Brands business, along with its belief that fourth quarter Private Brands sales will fall short of its goal to stem its year-over-year sales declines.

Accordingly, TreeHouse now expects reported earnings of $1.95 to $2.00 per share and adjusted earnings of $2.80 to $2.85 per share. Earlier, the company forecast earnings of $3.00 to $3.10 per share for the year. The Street expects earnings of $3.07 per share for the year.