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Kellogg 4Q earnings up
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January 27, 2000: 10:25 a.m. ET
Cereal maker's sales slip 1%; low double-digit profit growth seen in 2000
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Kellogg Co. posted a 47 percent rise in fourth-quarter operating income Thursday, as expected, but sales dropped slightly.
The maker of Rice Krispies and Pop Tarts earned $136.7 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, excluding special items. That compares with year-earlier operating income of $93.1 million, or 23 cents per share. The latest results matched the First Call consensus earnings estimate.
Sales slipped 1 percent to $1.59 billion. Excluding the results of the Lender's Bagel unit, which Kellogg sold Nov. 1, and the acquisition Worthington Foods Inc., sales were flat.
Including a restructuring charge of $58.8 million, or 9 cents per share, from the partial closing of the company's cereal plant in its hometown of Battle Creek, Mich., fourth-quarter net profit was $100.9 million, or 25 cents per share. That compares with net profit of $46.8 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.
Kellogg, the world's largest cereal maker, faces increasing competition from rival General Mills. Meanwhile, the company also is struggling to boost sales amid declining breakfast cereal consumption in the U.S. and heightened competition from generic cereal makers.
"Despite the fourth-quarter sales and volume softness, 1999 was a year of significant progress for Kellogg Co.," CEO Carlos Gutierrez said. "We met our goal of returning to both top-line and bottom-line growth."
Gutierrez said the company expects to post low double-digit earnings per share growth this year.
For the year, net income totaled $338.3 million, or 83 cents per diluted share, including special charges for the closing of the Battle Creek plant and other items. That's down from net profit of $502.6 million, or $1.23 per share, a year earlier.
Kellogg (K) stock added 1-3/8 to 26-3/16 in early Thursday trading. 
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Kellogg
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