Hershey Co. gets sweet break for Q2
HERSHEY, Pa. The Hershey Co. announced sales and earnings for the second quarter ended July 5.
Sales were $1.17 billion, up 5.9% from last year. Second-quarter net income was approximately $71.3 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with $41.5 million, or 18 cents per share for the comparable period of 2008.
For the first six months of 2009, consolidated net sales were $2.41 billion, compared with $2.27 billion for the first six months of 2008. Reported net income for the first six months of 2009 was $147.2 million, or 64 cents per share, compared with $104.7 million, or 46 cents per share, for the first six months of 2008.
Hershey president and CEO David West said that the company’s performance during the first half of the year will give it the opportunity to increase brand-building advertising, which is what contributed to the spike in earnings.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it was closing its online gift service.