Brown-Forman Profit, Sales Miss Estimates As Strong Dollar Weighs

Brown-Forman Corp. said it had net income of $208 million, or 97 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter, up from $206 million, or 96 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The owner of a range of alcohol brands including Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort and Finlandia, said sales rose to $1.14 billion from $1.08 billion. The FactSet consensus was for earnings of $1.04 a share and sales of $1.152 billion. Chief Executive Paul Varga said the trading environment was tough with a strong dollar weighing on earnings, "although we believe that underlying trends remain favorable as we head into the important holiday selling season." The company is expecting dollar strength to create a mid-single digit headwind on operating income for the full year. Earnings are expected to range from $3.15 to $3.35, compared with a FactSet consensus of $3.34. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 27% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 12%.