Mead Johnson Nutrition Sees Q2 Below Consensus; Cuts FY15 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN) said Tuesday that it expects earnings and adjusted earnings for the second quarter of 2015 to be $0.80 per share and $0.76 per share, respectively, impacted by the sales decline and increased Advertising & Promotion expenditure.

The infant formulas and children's nutritional products maker said its preliminary second sales were 7% below the prior year quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to earn $0.89 per share on revenue decline of 0.60% for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Strong sales of the recently launched imported products to China were insufficient to fully offset declines in the China based manufactured products, the company said. Hong Kong cross-border sales stabilized, but were below prior year levels.

For the full year 2015, the company now expects earnings of $3.56 to $3.71 per share and adjusted earnings of $3.63 to $3.78 per share. Previously, the company expected earnings of $3.79 to $3.89 per share and adjusted earnings of $3.90 to $4.00 per share.

Annual sales are now expected to be 2% to 4% below the prior year, previously estimated to be 2% above the prior year.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $3.93 per share on revenue growth of 0.80% for the full year 2015.

The company will announce its final second quarter results on July 23.