UPDATE: Pinnacle Foods Posts In-Line Q4 Earnings, Sales Miss Views

reported in-line earnings for the fourth quarter. However, the company's sales missed analysts' estimates. The Parsippany, New Jersey-based company posted a quarterly net profit of $36.1 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to $55.7 million, or $0.48 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, the company's earnings rose to $0.64 per share from $0.57 per share. Its sales slipped 0.6% to $705.3 million versus $709.3 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $718.4 million. North America retail net sales rose 0.9% to $622.7 million in the quarter. Net sales for the Birds Eye Frozen segment rose 4.9% to $317.4 million in the quarter, while net sales for the Duncan Hines Grocery segment slipped 3.0% to $305.4 million. Net sales for the Specialty Foods segment dropped 10.3% to $82.6 million in the quarter. Gross profit slipped 4.6% to $188.4 million, while EBIT dropped to $93.6 million in the quarter. Pinnacle Foods Chief Executive Officer Bob Gamgort said, "We are pleased with the strong results we delivered in our second year as a public company – achieving double-digit EPS growth, expanding gross margin and generating exceptional cash flow that enabled us to reduce leverage and return over $100 million in cash to our shareholders through dividends." For FY15, Pinnacle projects adjusted earnings of $1.86 to $.91 per share, versus analysts' expectations of $1.92 per share. Pinnacle shares fell 1.99% to close at $35.39 yesterday.