Dean Foods Revenue Declines Continue Amid Falling Volume

Dean Foods Co. said revenue slid in its latest quarter, hurt by declining volumes, though profit was again buoyed by lower milk prices.

Shares of the company tumbled 4.3% premarket to $18.01. It is the sixth straight quarter of declining sales for Dean, according to FactSet data.

Dallas-based Dean Foods has been aiming to shift more of its business toward branded milk and ice cream products that command higher profits, at a time when alternatives like almond and soy milk have cut into sales of traditional cow's milk.

Lower raw milk prices have helped the company's results in recent quarters, working to offset declining volumes. During the June quarter, raw milk costs fell 7% from the same quarter a year ago. Overall volume declined 3.2% and the company lost market share.

In all for the quarter, Dean Foods reported a profit of $33.4 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $26.5 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings rose to 38 cents a share from 33 cents a share. The company had guided for adjusted earnings per share between 32 cents and 40 cents. Revenue slipped 8.2% to $1.85 billion, in line with analyst estimates.

For the current quarter, the company guided for earnings of 32 cents to 40 cents a share, straddling analysts estimates for 37 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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