Kraft results could make a Cadbury case

The maker of Velveeta cheese and Oreo cookies is expected to post earnings of 48 cents a share in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, up from 44 cents a year earlier, with lower commodity costs and its own cost-cutting measures helping boost profits.

But revenue is expected to fall to $10.32 billion (6.3 billion pounds) from $10.46 billion, hurt by divestitures and strength in the dollar compared with a year earlier.

Cadbury chairman Roger Carr dubbed Kraft a "low growth conglomerate" in his letter to Rosenfeld rejecting the initial offer and analysts say Kraft will need to show sustainable growth prospects to overcome that perception.

In the past three quarters, Kraft has actually disappointed analysts in terms of revenue, with sales coming in 2 percent, 3 percent and 4.6 percent below expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Earnings per share have been better, with the company reporting earnings of 4.4 percent more than analysts expected in the second quarter and 13.3 percent more than expectations in the first quarter.

Kraft's earnings' report comes almost two weeks after Cadbury reported a 7 percent rise in underlying sales for the third quarter, beating even the most bullish forecasts.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman; editing by Carol Bishopric)