CHICAGO - Kraft Foods Inc., the nation's biggest food and beverage maker, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit fell 6 percent due to higher dairy prices and one-time costs.
The company also said it expects earnings per share of at least $1.90 for this year, excluding restructuring costs. Analysts anticipate profit of $1.94 per share.
Net income fell to $585 million, or 38 cents per share, for the three months ending Dec. 31. That's down from $624 million, or 38 cents per share, during the same period last year.
The 2007 per-share result was based on 90 million fewer shares outstanding.
Excluding asset impairment and other costs, the company earned 44 cents per share, matching estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Those figures typically exclude one-time items.
The company primarily blamed a nearly 40 percent boost in dairy prices during the quarter for the earnings decline. The high commodities costs dragged down operating earnings at the company's North American Cheese and Foodservice division by more than 53 percent.
Revenue rose 11 percent to $10.40 billion from $9.37 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006. Analysts predicted revenue of $10.05 billion.
"We are off to an excellent start in our efforts to return Kraft to reliable growth," said Kraft Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld.
For the full year, Kraft's profit fell 15 percent to $2.6 billion, or $1.62 per share. That's down from $3.06 billion, or $1.85 per share, in 2006. Full-year revenue climbed 8.4 percent to $37.2 billion from $34.4 billion in 2006.
The Northfield-based company also lowered estimates for how much it expects to spend on its restructuring program, saying costs would about $2.8 billion instead of its expected $3 billion.
Its shares fell 33 cents to $29.86 in morning trading Wednesday.
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