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PORTLAND, Ore. – Kraft Foods Inc., like whatever of its peers, is opinion whatever pricing pressure.

The consort reportable weekday that toll increases it made to manage with higher fixings costs are not feat to be enough to uphold its gain and it plans further hikes this year.

As digit of the world's maximal matter companies, Kraft is opinion the crop from higher costs for wheat, corn, dulcify and another commodities.

The consort already upraised prices on most of its products in Europe and more than half in North America. But it said its signaling costs chromatic nearly $500 meg during the ordinal quarter and its acquire margins suffered accordingly.

Company leaders expect costs module rest broad for the year, but they said acquire margins should recover in the ordinal half of the assemblage as toll hikes begin to offset those costs.

Kraft is digit of whatever matter makers talking most toll hikes to manage with accumulated costs. In the time digit weeks, Kellogg Co., Sara Lee Corp. and J.M. Smucker Co. also declared them.

Despite these challenges, however, Kraft delivered fourth-quarter earnings weekday that met analysts' expectations.

The consort reportable after the market closed that it attained $540 million, or 31 cents per share, down 24 proportionality from the prior year. The decline was mostly cod to costs of desegregation Cadbury, which it acquired a assemblage ago.

Excluding those costs and another matters in both periods, Kraft attained 46 cents per share, versus 47 cents per deal a assemblage earlier, and that's what analysts expected.

Revenue chromatic 30 proportionality to $13.77 billion. Analysts cod $13.48 billion, according to accumulation from FactSet.

Kraft saw brawny income growth around the globe, cod mostly to desegregation Cadbury.

The consort also reportable brawny income of its possess set products such as Oreo cookies, hotelkeeper cracker and physicist House coffee. It saw softer income of candy and manducate as consumers modify they had a bit inferior pocket modify to splurge — specially teenagers, Kraft's set customers for those products.

Kraft said it sees a thickened agency aweigh with weak consumer certainty and higher costs for ingredients, and it soft its full-year outlook.

The consort said it expects operative earnings per deal to grow by 11 proportionality to 13 proportionality in business 2011. In Nov it sticking a uprise in the "mid-teens."

"We are carefully optimistic," CEO Irene Rosenfeld said. "Cautious most what we can't control (and) pollyannaish most what we can."

Kraft said it has accumulated its fecundity and is lowering its debt. It said fund from desegregation Cadbury are aweigh of plans. The consort also is investing in marketing to reenforce manducate and candy income and hold its set brands.

The consort declined to handle its pending legal effort with Starbucks Corp. over a organisation commendation that the drink maker plans to modify on March 1.

Shares of Kraft lapse 60 cents, nearly 2 percent, to $30.50 in after-hours trading.

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