Kellogg Profit Hit By Accounting Change, Cost Cuts And Lower Sales

Kellogg Co. said Thursday it had net income of $224 million, or 62 cents a share, in the third quarter, down from $326 million, or 90 cents a share, in the year-earlier period, weighed down by a cost-cutting program, the impact of mark-to-market accounting and lower sales. Excluding those items, per-share earnings came to 94 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 92 cents. Sales came to $3.639 billion, down from $3.716 billion and slightly below the FactSet consensus of $3.689 billion. "Our international business did well in the quarter, although we continued to face the challenges in developed regions and categories that we've seen all year," Chief Executive John Bryant said in a statement. Kellogg shares were down 2.2% in premarket trade, and are up 2.2% for the year, underperforming the broader S&P 500's 7.2% gain.