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Hershey profit falls sharply
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hershey Co <HSY.N> on Thursday posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit, hurt by sluggish sales, restructuring charges and soaring costs for ingredients.
The company, which makes Hershey Kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups and a host of other candies, said profit was $54.3 million, or 24 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $153.6 million, or 65 cents as share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, earnings were 54 cents a share.
Hershey has been hammered by rising costs for ingredients like milk and has also lost market share to Mars Inc. Its stock has fallen 28 percent in the past year.
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(Reporting by Brad Dorfman; Editing by John Wallace)
