Giant cereal maker, Kellogg Co (K.N) topped Wall Street forecasts for first-quarter sales and profit on Thursday as the maker of Corn Flakes and Fruit Loops cereal earned more from its health-focused snack brands.
Kellogg’s products of U.S. Kellogg Company are offered at a supermarket of Swiss retail group Coop in Zumikon, Switzerland.
Shares of Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg rose 4.1 percent to $59.00 in premarket trading on Thursday after the results.
To better serve consumers who are ditching sugary foods including popular breakfast cereals, Kellogg has been acquiring companies that make healthier foods, such as protein bar maker RXBAR and Brazilian snack group Parati.
Items made by RXBAR and Parati helped Kellogg’s sales rise 4.7 percent to $3.40 billion in the three months ended March 31.
Analysts on average had estimated sales of $3.30 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Kellogg said net income rose to $444 million or $1.27 per share in the first quarter of 2018, from $266 million or 75 cents per share a year earlier,Reuters reports.
Excluding one-time items, Kellogg earned $1.23 per share, ahead of analysts’ expectations of $1.08.
