ConAgra quarterly profit rises : US Business

CHICAGO (Reuters) - ConAgra Foods Inc posted higher quarterly earnings on Thursday as profits from its trading and merchandising unit and food and ingredients businesses offset results at a consumer foods operation that is struggling with soaring commodity costs.

The company also said it has agreed to sell the trading and merchandising business, letting it focus on its core food operations.

The maker of Healthy Choice meals, Chef Boyardee pasta and a host of other packaged foods said profit was $309.1 million, or 63 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended February 24, compared with $192.6 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.

Like most food companies, ConAgra has been hammered by rising costs for wheat and other ingredients.

But the company's bottom line has been supported by the trading and merchandising business, a vestige of ConAgra's history as a commodity-based company.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman; editing by John Wallace)

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