Heinz's Ketchup on Financial Comments

Heinz (HNZ) reported fairly good results for Q2. Apparently ketchup will do well in the current economic difficulties. But listen to the way senior officers explain themselves. They are pulling their punches. We all know that economic times are difficult. So why do they need to say the following:

“Our first-half results demonstrate that the Company’s growth strategy is working. Heinz will accelerate its focus on boosting productivity and margins in light of the current economic climate. We will also shift investments in marketing and R&D toward value-oriented innovation, which is more important than ever to consumers. As we look beyond FY2009, we remain confident in our business fundamentals, but in light of the volatile economic conditions, we will closely watch currency and commodity movements before we advise investors of our financial outlook for FY2010,” said Heinz Chairman, President, and CEO, William R. Johnson.

Just sit there and think about it for a moment. If the strategy is working, which they claim it is, why are you preparing the investor for changes. Also it is intuitively obvious that currency and commodity prices deeply influence results at companies such as Heinz. So for the CEO to say they are watching them is laughable. They better be watching them before something runs them over.