Campbell’s Slashes Dividend and Looks to Cut Costs as Performance Remains ‘Unacceptable’

巴伦周刊（Barron's），《巴伦周刊》（Barron's）官方站点，提供商业、金融与市场新闻及分析。关注

Campbell’s cut its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share, marking a 36% reduction to its previous dividend of 36 cents. (Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Key Points

Campbell’s cuts its quarterly dividend by 36% to 25 cents a share to protect the company’s health amid weak consumer spending.
The company has closed plants and laid off workers as part of a cost-cutting program aimed at saving $500 million by fiscal 2030.
Campbell’s expects net sales to fall between 2% and 4% for the current fiscal year, which is below analysts’ expectations.

Campbell’s , arguably one of America’s most iconic soup brands, isn’t performing where it needs to be, according to its chief executive. It’s a reality underscored by the company’s latest quarterly earnings.

The soup and snack maker on Thursday slashed its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share, marking a 36% decrease from 39 cents. The move came as part of a larger effort to safeguard the company’s health as weak consumer spending continues to weigh on its results.

Campbell’s added that it has closed plants and laid off workers to protect margins, part of a sweeping cost-cutting program aimed at saving $500 million by fiscal 2030.

“Our results remain unacceptable,” CEO Mick Beekhuizen said on Thursday. “Our performance is not where it needs to be, and we are taking decisive action to improve it.”

Campbell’s is “addressing reality head-on” by intensifying its focus on the consumer, sharpening its execution, and adjusting prices in certain categories to reflect changes in commodity costs, Beekhuizen added.

The company posted adjusted earnings of 39 cents a share in its fiscal fourth quarter, in line with analysts’ expectations. Sales fell 8% to $2.1 billion, also in line with forecasts, while organic sales ticked down 1%. Across product lines, sales within its snacks division sank 12%, while the same metric fell 4% in its meals and beverages unit.

Management’s outlook for the current fiscal year doesn’t suggest any meaningful improvement. Campbell’s expects net sales to fall between 2% and 4% for the period. Analysts were expecting a drop of less than 1%. The company also is targeting adjusted earnings of $1.65 to $1.80 a share, below analysts’ calls for $1.86 a share at the midpoint of the range.

Campbell’s, like other snack makers, has faced a softening in consumer demand as shoppers grapple with elevated inflation. However, the company has been particularly hard-hit after raising prices in recent years to protect margins, driving lower-income consumers toward cheaper value brands and store-label products.

The dividend cut appears to be “an effort to accelerate debt paydown,” William Blair analyst David Shanko said Thursday. Despite this, he views the conservative guidance and commentary from management as “a reset in expectations that may be viewed more positively for the stock going forward, consistent with the actions of similar food companies in recent months.”

Shares fell 6.4% to $22.26 in premarket trading Thursday. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 rose slightly.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

添加评论

点踩

分享查看原文

参与讨论