Kraft Foods
Slower sales, lower retail food prices and the comparison with a gain a year ago helped cut Kraft’s third- quarter profit 40 percent, but the company raised its forecast for the year.
The company said it remains interested in offers for U.K. candy giant Cadbury but did not disclose a time frame or price.
Kraft reported that it earned $824 million, or 55 cents a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That’s compared with $1.36 billion, or 91 cents a share, last year, when the results included the Post Cereal business, which it has since sold. Revenue fell nearly 6 percent to $9.8 billion.
Archer Daniels Midland
First-quarter profit tumbled 53 percent as the global recession dragged down demand for crops and ethanol, but demand is improving in some key markets.
ADM said it earned $496 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with $1.04 billion, or $1.62 a share, last year. Revenue fell 29 percent to $14.92 billion.
The results widely beat Wall Street expectations, with analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecasting a profit of 57 cents a share.
Viacom
“G.I. Joe” and “The Transformers” helped boost the company’s third-quarter earnings 15 percent with strong box-office returns.
Viacom said it earned $463 million, or 76 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $401 million, or 65 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding a one-time gain from a favorable tax adjustment and a charge for paying down debt, earnings came to 69 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates by 12 cents.
DaVita
The kidney-dialysis giant reported $110.9 million in net income for the third quarter, compared with $93.9 million during the same period in 2008.
During the third quarter, DaVita — which will move its headquarters from El Segundo, Calif., to Denver — acquired four centers, opened 21 new centers, merged five centers and closed one center. It provides services at 1,513 outpatient dialysis centers.
