UPDATE: Mondelez Q4 Earnings Top Estimates

Mondelez International Inc. MDLZ reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. The Deerfield, Illinois-based company posted quarterly earnings of $500 million, or $0.29 per share, versus $1.77 billion, or $1 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.47 per share. Its revenue dropped 6.9% to $8.83 billion from $9.49 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.43 per share on revenue of $8.88 billion. For the full year, Mondelez returned $2.9 billion to shareholders through $1.9 billion of share repurchases and $1 billion in dividends. "In 2014, we delivered strong earnings growth, margin expansion and cash flow in a challenging consumer and retail environment by driving record net productivity and aggressively reducing overheads," said Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO. "At the same time, we delivered organic net revenue growth in line with our expectations as we raised prices to recover higher input costs, protect profitability and ensure the health of our franchises." For 2015, Mondelez projects organic revenue growth of at least 2%. Mondelez shares rose 0.64% to $36.05 in pre-market trading.