Dean Foods Tumbles on Earnings Miss, Soft Outlook

Posted Feb 10th 2010 2:15PM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Major Movement, Earnings Reports, Dean Foods (DF)

Dean Foods (DF) shares fell more than 15%, or $2.70, in Wednesday morning trading to a new 52-week low.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Dean Foods reported net income of $50 million, or 27 cents per share, down from $66 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Price pressure at retailers and rising dairy costs dragged down results. Excluding charges, Dean Foods said it earned 31 cents a share.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell to $3 billion from $3.1 billion. Analysts had forecast the earnings of 37 cents per share on sales of $2.96 billion.

"The fourth quarter was a challenging finish to an otherwise highly successful year for Dean Foods," said CEO Gregg Engles. Full-year net income totaled $276 million, and per-share earnings rose 22% year over year to $1.59.

The Dallas-based company also forecast its 2010 profit in the range of $1.54 a share to $1.64 a share, which fell short of the consensus estimate.

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