Heinz, a marketer and producer of specialty food products in the US, has reported sales of $2.48bn for the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared to $2.44bn in the same quarter last year.

The company said that the sales growth was led by the global Heinz brand, including Heinz Ketchup, Complan nutritional beverages in India, ABC brand products in Indonesia and Smart Ones in the US. Ketchup sales were driven by higher sales and volume in the US and Russia.

The company has posted an operating income of $406m, an increase of 9.9 per cent compared to $369m in the previous year quarter. Net income for the quarter was $248.59m or $0.75 per diluted share, compared to $219.09 or $0.67 per diluted share in the last year quarter.

Heinz chairman, president and CEO William Johnson said that first-quarter results which were led by continued momentum in emerging markets and good results in North American Consumer Products. Emerging Markets accounted for a record 18 per cent of the company's total sales.

"Globally, Heinz delivered strong organic sales growth in a difficult economic environment, including 8 per cent growth in ketchup and almost 6 per cent growth in our Top 15 brands. We continued to invest in innovation and marketing as the company delivered our 21st consecutive quarter of organic sales growth," Johnson said.

For the full year, the company expects to achieve sales growth of 3 to 4 per cent, operating income growth of 7 to 10 per cent, and growth of 7 to 10 per cent in earnings per share.