UPDATE: Kellogg Posts Upbeat Q3 Earnings

Kellogg Company

reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter. The Battle Creek, Michigan-based company posted quarterly net income of $224 million, or $0.62 per share, compared to $326 million, or $0.90 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding certain items, the company's earnings came in at $0.94 per share. Its sales slipped to $3.639 billion from $3.716 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.92 per share on revenue of $3.69 billion. Net sales by Kellogg North America fell 4.2% to $2.3 billion in the quarter, while net sales declined 0.6% in Europe. Kellogg's internal net sales in US cereals business slipped 4.7%. Operating profit dropped 27.5% to $365 million in the quarter. "We are pleased to have announced results for quarterly operating profit and earnings per share that were ahead of our expectations. 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," said John Bryant, Kellogg Company's chairman and chief executive officer. For the full year, Kellogg reiterated its currency-neutral forecast. Kellogg shares fell 0.45% to close at $62.47 yesterday.