Campbell Soup Co. released its second quarter results on Monday. The largest soup maker in the world managed to post a growth of 11% in its net income despite a decrease in soup sales in United States. The company posted a third consecutive profitable quarter as the profit was mainly attributable to the decreased marketing costs as well as stabilized prices for its ingredients and packaging.

In the second quarter, the net income was posted $259 million or 74 cents a share, increasing by 11% while in the same period last quarter the net income was posted $233 million or 64 cents. In the second quarter of last year the profit was badly hit by the decision of the retailers to cut back inventories of soup. However, the net income of the recently ended second quarter came in the line of the expectations of the market analysts.

Analysts earlier estimated the second quarter earnings of 74 cents a share. Revenue in Q4 grew by 1.5% and was reported $2.15 billion. U. S. soup sales reported decreased by 8% in the second quarter and ready to serve soup sales decreased by 18%.

"We are taking the promotional actions necessary to improve our competitiveness in the second half of the fiscal year, and we expect improvement in the strength of Chunky and our overall ready to serve soup portfolio," CEO Doug Conant said.