Kraft boosted by Cadbury
KRAFT Foods reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its target for cost savings from the acquisition of Cadbury yesterday, sending its shares up 4.8 per cent.
But the largest US food company left its expectation for 2010 unchanged because it plans to reinvest the extra cash from the profit and cost savings into its brands.
Net profit was $937m (£589.6m), compared with $827m.
Net sales rose 25.3 per cent to $12.3bn, fueled by the addition of Cadbury. On an organic basis, revenue rose two per cent in the Kraft business and 3.3 per cent in the Cadbury business.
Earlier this year, Kraft acquired Cadbury for $18.4bn after a hostile takeover battle, adding Cadbury chocolate, Trident gum and Halls lozenges to a portfolio that included Oreo cookies and Philadelphia cream cheese.