Kraft Q1 net earnings jump three-fold to $1.88 bn

Kraft Foods has reported a three-fold growth in net earnings at $1.88 billion in the first three months of the year helped by American company's acquisition of Cadbury. In the year-ago period, the company had a net earnings of $660 million, Kraft said in a statement.

The company's net revenues rose 26 per cent from year-ago period to $11.3 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. In the three months period of 2010, organic revenues for Kraft grew 3.3 per cent for the quarter, while Cadbury's organic revenue growth was 8.2 per cent.

"Our first quarter results are early evidence of our future potential in combination with Cadbury," Kraft Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld said.

"We demonstrated strong momentum in our Kraft Foods' base business, including high-quality top-line growth and strong operating gains. In addition, our Cadbury business delivered solid financial results," Rosenfeld added.

Kraft said that emerging markets were the best performer with a growth of 67 per cent in net revenues, while Europe surged 40.5 per cent and North America was up 7.3 per cent. "Cadbury delivered strong growth primarily reflecting gains in gum across Latin America and chocolate in Asia, particularly India and Australia," Kraft said.

In Asia Pacific, organic revenues grew double-digits due to strong volume gains, slightly offset by lower price levels. The priority brands collectively grew more than 30 per cent, led by Oreo cookies and Tang powdered beverages.

Cadbury growth reflected strong gains in brands like Trident, Stride and Dentyne gum as well as Sour Patch candies. In February, Kraft completed the acquisition of Cadbury for 11.9 billion pounds.