Campbell lowers full-year guidance for fiscal 2015; expects results for second quarter to be weaker than planned

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) today announced that the company is lowering its previous full-year sales and earnings guidance for fiscal 2015, based on its expectation that results for the second quarter and the remainder of the year will be weaker than anticipated, including the negative impact of foreign currency translation.

For the full fiscal year, the company now expects that the year-over-year change in net sales will be in the range of -1% to +1% reflecting the negative impact of currency translation, which is currently estimated at 2 percentage points. Excluding the impact of currency translation, the company’s sales guidance is unchanged. The company now expects that adjusted EBIT will decline by -7% to -5%, and that adjusted EPS from continuing operations will be in the range of $2.32 to $2.38, a decline of -5% to -3%. The changes in the full-year guidance for EBIT and EPS are due primarily to the company’s gross margin performance and to the negative impact of currency translation. This guidance is based on an adjusted 52-week 2014 base. A detailed reconciliation of the reported financial information to the adjusted financial information is included at the end of this news release.

Campbell will report its results for the second fiscal quarter ending Feb. 1, 2015, on Wed., Feb. 25. The company estimates that reported net sales for the second quarter will decline by approximately 2% reflecting the negative impact of currency translation. The company estimates that second-quarter adjusted EBIT will decline by approximately 17%, due primarily to lower gross margin performance and the negative impact of currency translation. EPS from continuing operations for the quarter is estimated at approximately $0.65 to $0.66 per share.

In connection with its release of second-quarter results, the company will conduct a conference call on Wed., Feb. 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.