PITTSBURGH – Shares of Kraft Heinz Co. jumped 11 percent on Oct. 31 as the company reported a higher-than-expected profit in the third quarter.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 28, 2019, the company reported net income of $899 million, or $0.74 diluted earnings per share, compared with $619 million, or $0.50 diluted earnings per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 29, 2018. Results reflected a gain on the sale of the company’s Canadian natural cheese business and a non-cash impairment charge in the prior year period that was partially offset by debt extinguishment costs associated with the tender offers.

Excluding the sale of the cheese business and other items, Kraft Heinz reported $0.69 adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter of 2019, compared with adjusted EPS of $0.76 in third quarter ended Sept. 29, 2018.

Sales for the most-recent quarter slid 4.8 percent to $6,076 million driven by a negative 2.0 percentage point impact from divestitures and an unfavorable 1.7 percentage point impact from currency, the company said.

“While our third-quarter results remain below our potential, we showed sequential improvement versus the first half, and I believe we are beginning to operate the business better,” said Miguel Patricio, CEO of Kraft Heinz. “We are making good progress in identifying and addressing the root causes of past performance, as well as setting our strategic direction. Although there is still much work ahead, we’re encouraged by our improving performance, and are even more confident in our ability to turn around the Company and set a path of long-term growth and profitability.”

For the nine months ended Sept. 28, 2019, net income was $1,753 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, compared with $2,376 million, or $1.94 per diluted share in the third quarter ended Sept. 29, 2018.

Net sales for the nine-month period were $18,441 million, compared with $19,377 million reported in the year-ago period.