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ConAgra sales miss on weak demand for consumer foods

ConAgra Foods Inc reported lower-than-expected revenue for the third straight quarter due to weak sales in its consumer foods business, which includes Chef Boyardee pasta and Healthy Choice frozen dinners.

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Cans of Chef Boyardee, a product of ConAgra Foods. REUTERS/Darren Ornitz

ConAgra Foods Inc reported lower-than-expected revenue for the third straight quarter due to weak sales in its consumer foods business, which includes Chef Boyardee pasta and Healthy Choice frozen dinners.

Sales in ConAgra's consumer foods business fell 3 percent in the second quarter, hurt by a strong dollar and a shift in customer preference from packaged foods to alternatives perceived as fresher and healthier.

ConAgra said on Tuesday that sales in the business had been hurt also as it was "eliminating some volume that does not meet profit standards."

ConAgra has announced major restructuring plans in the past couple of months, including a sale of its private-label unit, spinoff of its Lamb Weston frozen potato products business and a 30 percent reduction in its office-based workforce.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $154.9 million, or 35 cents per share, in the quarter ended Nov. 29 from $10 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.

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The company had a $202.8 million loss from its private-label unit in the year-earlier quarter.

Excluding items, ConAgra earned 71 cents per share.

Sales fell 1.4 percent to $3.09 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.34 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said it expected current-quarter adjusted profit to be "modestly higher" from a year earlier, and earnings would include the contribution from its private label business.

ConAgra shares were up 1 percent at $41.45 in light premarket trading on Tuesday.

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