Campbell Soup Hurting From Dollar Strength

Possible bad news for other multi-nationals...

Campbell's Soup Co (NYSE:CPB) weighed in with a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as consumers seek less-wallet intensive meal options. The Camden, N.J.,-based company reported its first-quarter profit totaled $260 million, or 71 cents a share, from $270 million, or 70 cents a share, in the same quarter a year before.

Excluding restructuring and charges for commodity hedges in the period, earnings rose to 77 cents a share from 69 cents. Thomas/Reuters analysts were expecting the soup maker to report a profit of 76 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter increased 3% to $2.25 billion with condensed soup and broth sales having double-digit gains in the quarter.

"Beyond U.S. soup, we had strong performance in our U.S. sauces business, although the growth of our U.S. beverage business slowed compared to the rapid growth of the last several quarters, said Douglas R. Conant, president and CEO, in a statement.

"In emerging markets, we continued to invest in our businesses in Russia and China as we prepared to expand our operations in both countries." In giving guidance for the future, Campbell said the dollar may weight on results.

Now we need to watch results at Coke (NYSE:KO) and Pepsi (NYSE:PEP) to see if this is a trend or an isolated issue. My guess is that it is not.