Coffee Service

Kraft Heinz reports mixed Q4, FY 2023 results

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February 14, 2024

Kraft Heinz Inc. reported Q4 2023 sales and earnings declines over the prior year period, but slight full-year gains, according to an earnings report.

Highlights include:

• Net sales decreased 7.1% from $7.38 billion in Q4 2022 to $6.9 billion in Q4 2023, including a negative 6.1 percentage point impact from a 53rd week in the prior year period, a negative 0.2 percentage point impact from foreign currency, and a negative 0.1 percentage point impact from divestitures and acquisitions.
• Net income declined 14.6% from $887 million to $757 million in the comparative quarters, primarily driven by non-cash charges related to the $162 million settlement of a U.K. defined benefit pension plan in the current year period, lower adjusted EBITDA versus the prior year period, and unrealized losses on commodity hedges in the current year period.
• EPS fell 15.3% from 73 cents to 62 cents on a basic basis and from 72 cents to 61 cents on a diluted basis.
• Adjusted EPS fell 8.2% to 78 cents primarily driven by a 53rd week in the prior year and a higher effective tax rate in the current year.
• Full-year net sales increased 0.6% from $26.485 billion to $26.640 billion, including a negative 1.8 percentage point impact from a 53rd week in the prior year period, a negative 0.9 percentage point impact from foreign currency, and a negative 0.1 percentage point impact from divestitures.
• Full-year net income increased 20.2% from $2.4 billion to $2.8 billion, driven by higher adjusted EBITDA versus the prior year period, lower non-cash impairment losses in the current year period, an expense related to the securities class action lawsuit in the prior year period, and unrealized losses on commodity hedges in the prior year period.
• Full-year EPS rose 20.9% from $1.93 to $2.31 on a basic basis and from $1.91 to $2.31 on a diluted basis.
• Full-year adjusted EPS rose 7.2% to $2.98, primarily driven by higher results of ongoing operations and lower interest expense.

The company declared a 40 cents per share quarterly dividend, payable for shareholders of record March 8.

Shares traded at $34.06 today against a 52-week range of $30.68 to $41.47.

The 78 cents in quarterly EPS beat the Zacks Consensus estimate of 77 cents, according to Zacks.

"We delivered net sales growth across each of our key pillars, global foodservice, emerging markets and U.S. Retail Grow Platforms," CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said in a press release. "We laid out action plans early in 2023 to drive market share and volume improvement — and they worked. We also executed well against our efficiency program, unlocking and powering it in large part with our tech-enabled Agile@Scale methodology."