Consumer Goods industry news provided by Financial News USA (OTC: FNWU). H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) Chairman, President and CEO William R. Johnson recently previewed the Company's third quarter results at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Third quarter results will be announced on February 27.) Mr. Johnson said that Heinz expects excellent third quarter operating profit growth of around 9 percent on sales growth of approximately 5 percent, with anticipated third quarter EPS growth of approximately 30 percent. NutraCea (OTC BB: NTRZ), a leader in research and the production and marketing of stabilized rice bran and its derivatives recently announced that they have entered into definitive agreements with institutional and accredited investors with respect to a private placement of 20,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $2.50 per share, for gross proceeds of $50,000,000, before payment of placement agent commissions and offering expenses.
Kraft Foods' (NYSE:KFT) shares were off 3% yesterday on the company's below-forecast 2007 profit guidance. The company, which is being spun off from Altria Group next month, also announced a buyback of up to $5 billion in stock and a turnaround plan designed to boost sales and shrink costs. Kraft is projecting 2007 earnings at $1.75-1.80 per share, excluding $0.25 in restructuring costs, below Street expectations of $1.92. Packaged Food Company ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE:CAG) said Tuesday its third-quarter earnings will be hurt by $50 million to $60 million, or 6 cents to 8 cents a share, because of last week's peanut butter recall. The company said its fiscal 2007 earnings-per-share estimate will need to be lowered to adjust for the impact of the Peter Pan recall. Several batches of the peanut butter were linked to a salmonella outbreak which sickened nearly 300 people nationwide since August.
About Financial News USA
Financial News USA is a Next Generation Financial Communications firm focused on the distribution of market moving news. Financial News USA has developed leading edge e-publishing tools including programming proprietary RSS feeds and enabling open source press release publishing across its network. Financial News USA has been aggressively expanding its news distribution network by targeting direct feeds to financial news and data providers such as FinancialContent, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), among others. Financial News USA offers a free news feed available online (www.financialnewsusa.com) to websites and financial services looking for content and for individual investors looking to stay informed on the financial markets. Financial News USA and its affiliates charge each client cash for news distribution and may take an equity position in the companies mentioned herein, please visit the disclaimer at www.financialnewsusa.com Contact Information:
Financial News USA
Tel: (626) 961-8067
Email: info@financialnewsusa.com