Oreo Maker Mondelez's Sales, Profit Miss Estimates

Mondelez International, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates, reported lower-than-expected holiday-quarter sales and profit due to a strong dollar that eroded the value of sales outside the United States.

The company, which gets more than 75 percent of its sales outside the United States, also said that it expects its 2017 revenue growth to be hit by 1 percent and adjusted earnings to be down by 3 cents per share due to the strong dollar.

The average value of the dollar rose 2.3 percent against a basket of currencies in the fourth quarter, from a year earlier.

Mondelez said its fourth-quarter sales in Europe, its largest market, was down 4.7 percent. However, they were up marginally on a constant currency basis.

The world's second-largest confectionary company last month raised prices for some of its products as it grapples with higher commodity costs.

The Deerfield, Illinois-based company's net revenue fell 8.1 percent to $6.77 billion in the quarter.

Analysts on average had expected revenue of $6.89 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income attributable to Mondelez was $93 million, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $729 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Mondelez earned 47 cents per share, missing the average analyst estimate by a cent.

The company's shares were down slightly at $43.93 in extended trading on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)