Campbell Soup Reports Increased Broth Sales

Campbell Soup, which has been struggling to increase the sales of its soups, reported a higher quarterly profit in part because of the increased popularity of broth. In fact, the better results were largely because of the later Thanksgiving; shipments associated with the holidays were pushed back to its fiscal second quarter. Consumer purchases for Campbell’s soup division were actually down 1 percent, but the company noted “an increase in homemade soup behavior.” Mark Alexander, president of Campbell North America, said “broth is for people for whom cooking is a big deal.” For the period ended Jan. 26, Campbell earned $325 million, or $1.03 a share. That compares with $190 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. Not including discontinued operations of its recently sold European business, Campbell said adjusted earnings were 76 cents a share, above the 73 cents a share Wall Street expected. Revenue rose to $2.28 billion, also above the $2.27 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet.