Kraft Heinz faces pressure to do a deal as sales stagnate

New York

KRAFT Heinz Co, rebuffed in its bid to buy Unilever earlier this year, is struggling to reignite sales in the absence of a deal.

First-quarter revenue dropped to US$6.36 billion, the food giant said on Wednesday. That missed the US$6.46 billion average of analysts' projections. Earnings also fell short of estimates, suggesting that Kraft Heinz's much-vaunted cost cutting didn't do the job in the latest period.

The results crystallise many investor concerns about Kraft Heinz. The company and its backers - private equity firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc - have developed a reputation for acquiring companies and squeezing expenses. But they haven't sho…