Kraft, which has a new corporate dealmaker, released its first-quarter results Wednesday and held a conference call. About the Mars-Wrigley deal, Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer, said: "We are continuing to evaluate our portfolio and prospects. The strategy we have in place will be able to help us compete with Mars and Wrigley effectively. We would acquire to build scale in international geographies, and that is very much on the plate. I'm not going to comment on anything more about that."

Kraft has already done one deal to add international scale: The acquisition of Groupe Danone SA's biscuit business in July 2007 for $7.2 billion.The deal gave Kraft control of Danone's three main cookie brands, LU, Tuc and Prince, and operations in 20 countries, including 36 factories.

There's no question Rosenfeld is fond of chocolate. Kraft's own international chocolate business grew double-digits thanks to core brands such as Milka, Toblerone and Cote d'Or. "We had a very strong quarter with our chocolate business in the EU, and it will continue to be a very important part of our portfolio," Rosenfeld said.

Kraft is in year two of a three-year turnaround plan, involving both investments and restructuring (including the Post spinoff ). Restructuring is largely over and more investments will be made, according to Tim McLevish, chief financial officer. Here are some other highlights of Kraft's first-quarter results.

• Quarterly net revenues increased 20.8% to $10.4 billion, including favorable impacts of 8.3% from acquisitions and 5.1% from currency, partially offset by an unfavorable impact of 0.6% points from divestitures.

• Revenue increases were driven by growth in coffee, cookies and biscuits, food service, convenience meals and cheese.

"Biscuit acquisitions is paying off. Our integration of Danone is on track, and we are expanding our distribution in Greece and the U.K. Biscuits will continue to be a significant platform for international business," Rosenfeld said. - Maria Woehr