(Reuters) - Packaged and fresh food supplier Sysco ( SYY ) beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by easing cost pressures, even as it missed sales expectations.

After struggling with higher material and labor costs for months, Sysco ( SYY ) is now seeing some of its expenses linked to supply chain ease from their peaks last year.

Excluding certain items, Sysco ( SYY ) earned $1.39 per share in the fourth quarter ended June 29, above LSEG estimate of $1.38, and its gross margin decreased just 1 basis point to 18.7%.

Shares of the Texas-based company, which sells frozen meat, dairy and seafood among others, rose 2.3% in premarket trading.

The U.S. restaurant industry, Sysco's ( SYY ) largest client, has been under pressure as dining out is still expensive and remains a less preferred option among inflation-hit customers.

Sysco's ( SYY ) quarterly net sales of $20.56 billion, which rose 4.2%, missed LSEG estimates of $20.57 billion.

(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)