Dive Brief:
- Pinnacle Foods released earnings today, which included reports of 5.2% growth in consolidated net sales and a 6.9% increase in North America Retail net sales in 2014.
- The company reported fourth quarter 2014 earnings per share that were on target with analysts' predictions at $0.64 per share. Its outlook for the fiscal year 2015 is $1.86-$1.91 for adjusted diluted earnings per share, which equates to about 7% to 10% growth.
- Pinnacle Foods CEO Bob Gamgort said in a news release, "We navigated successfully through an eventful year in which we made two modest, but highly strategic, acquisitions and managed through the disruption of a terminated merger agreement, while continuing to build market share in a highly competitive industry."
Dive Insight:
The eventful year Gamgort is referring to includes a potential acquisition by Hillshire Brands Co., though that deal fizzled out a couple months later. Also, at the end of the year, Pinnacle Foods acquired Canada's Garden Protein International, which would give Pinnacle control over the Gardein brand.