US cereal giant Kellogg has booked a drop in first-half profit as raw material prices and weakness in Europe weighed on earnings.

Net profit in the six months to the end of June amounted to US$659m, a 7% decline on the prior-year period, Kellogg reported today (2 August).

The group cited weakness in Europe as one of the reasons for the decline, where operating profits fell 26.1% to $150m. Meanwhile, in North America, operating profits climbed 5.3% to $140m.

Group operating profits slid 8.1% to $1.02bn, while sales edged up 0.6% to $6.91bn.

The company reaffirmed its guidance for full-year internal net sales growth of between 2% to 3%. In addition, Kellogg said it continues to expect full-year internal operating profit to decline between 2% to 4%.

Expectations remain for full-year, as-reported EPS to be in the range of $3.18 and $3.30, including the anticipated impact of the Pringles acquisition, it said.