Campbell Soup Sales Fall Due to Strong Dollar, Weak Demand

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) reported an 8.6% fall in fourth-quarter sales, hurt by a strong dollar, weak sales of its soups and cookies, and one less week in the quarter.

Campbell, like other packaged food makers, is struggling to grow as consumers increasingly prefer less processed foods.

Sales in Campbell's U.S. simple meals business, which includes soups, fell 3% to $505 million in the quarter ended Aug. 2.

Sales in the global baking and snacking unit, which includes Pepperidge Farm cookies and Goldfish crackers, fell 12% to $553 million.

The business is the company's biggest and accounted for nearly a third of total revenue in the quarter.

Net income attributable to the company halved to $68 million, or 22 cents per share, mainly due to a restructuring charge of $93 million.

Campbell has been cutting costs with a target to save at least $200 million annually over the next three years and is reorganizing its business units by product categories.

Excluding items, Campbell earned 43 cents per share, higher than analysts' average estimate of 42 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales fell nearly 9% to $1.69 billion, in line with analysts estimate.

Up to Wednesday's close, the stock had risen about 9% this year.

(Reporting by Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru and Anjali Athavaley in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Savio D'Souza)