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Hersheys Income Climbs Sales Dip In Q4

HERSHEY, PA -- Hershey Co.'s fourth-quarter 2017 net income rose to $181 million, or 85¢ a share, up from $116.9 million, or 55¢ a share, in the fourth quarter of 2016, while operating profit rose by 43.1% to $328 million compared to last year's figure of $229 million. Net sales fell 1.6% to $1.94 billion from $1.97 billion during the same period last year. Hershey attributed the sales decline to the timing of shipments and the launch of the Hershey's Cookie Layer Crunch bar in the prior year. Net sales ...

February 21, 2018

HERSHEY, PA -- Hershey Co.'s fourth-quarter 2017 net income rose to $181 million, or 85¢ a share, up from $116.9 million, or 55¢ a share, in the fourth quarter of 2016, while operating profit rose by 43.1% to $328 million compared to last year's figure of $229 million.

Net sales fell 1.6% to $1.94 billion from $1.97 billion during the same period last year. Hershey attributed the sales decline to the timing of shipments and the launch of the Hershey's Cookie Layer Crunch bar in the prior year.

Net sales in North America declined by 0.9% to $1.67 billion year over year. Fourth-quarter net sales outside of North America dropped 5.4% to $265 million.

Hershey's full-year net sales rose 1% to $7.51 billion from the $7.44 billion in 2016.

"In 2017, we continued to strengthen our core chocolate brands, positioned our snacks business for ongoing success and increased adjusted operating profit margin," said Hershey Co. president and chief executive Michele Buck. "We continue to drive strong growth in our core chocolate brands as Reese's, Hershey's, KitKat and Kisses combined retail takeaway was solid, up 2% in the fourth quarter and 5% for the full year."

Hershey acquired snack brand Amplify for $1.6 billion in December 2017, and Buck emphasized its importance to the company in the salty snack category. "We intend to bring scale and category management capabilities to this key sub-segment allowing us to capture more consumer snacking occasions with a broader portfolio of brands," she said.

Hershey expects its 2018 net sales to increase between 5% and 7%, and organic net sales to grow 2% from 2016.