Packaged food supplier General Mills' (GIS) fourth-quarter net earnings attributable to the company grew to $325.4 million or $0.49 per share from $320.2 million or $0.48 per share a year earlier. The recent quarter's earnings of $325 million included a restructuring charge of $64 million after tax. On an adjusted basis, quarterly earnings per share totaled $0.60, up 15 percent from $0.52 a year ago. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.59 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $4.07 billion, compared with $3.63 billion in the comparable period, up by 11.9%. Analysts estimated revenues of $4.11 billion for the quarter.
The company said that price realization and mix contributed 1 point of net sales growth, and pound volume contributed 12 points of net sales growth, including 16 points of pound volume growth from the Yoplait acquisition. Foreign exchange reduced fourth quarter net sales growth by one percentage point.
For fiscal 2013, adjusted earnings per share are estimated to total about $2.65, including an estimated 2 to 3-cents per share drag from partial-year results for Yoki. Nineteen analysts project full-year earnings of $2.75 per share.
General Mills anticipates fiscal 2013 net sales to grow at a mid-single-digit rate. This fiscal 2013 guidance exclude any contribution from the anticipated acquisition of Yoki Alimentos, S.A., a Brazilian food company. General Mills expects this transaction to close during the first half of fiscal 2013. The company plans to finance the purchase with a combination of cash and debt.
The company noted, ""We plan to balance our 2013 earnings growth with reinvestment designed to support our longer-term progress. These initiatives include increased marketing and merchandising investments in U.S. yogurt and select other product lines; investment to support the Canadian Yoplait yogurt business being assumed from the current licensee on September 1, 2012; and investments designed to accelerate our business growth in emerging markets, particularly China."
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