Packaged food supplier General Mills, Inc. (GIS) on Tuesday reaffirmed its adjusted earnings guidance for the full-year 2013, and said it plans for stronger earnings growth and increased cash returns to shareholders in fiscal 2014. The company will be revealing this in a presentation at an investor conference in New York later in the day.
"We are completing a two-year period of significant investment that strengthened our business in our core U.S. market and meaningfully expanded our base in international markets. Our focus now is on integrating the new operations and executing well across the entire company," Chairman and CEO Ken Powell said in a statement.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based maker of Cheerios and Fiber One cereals said it continues to anticipate adjusted earnings for the full-year 2013 in a range of $2.65 and $2.67 per share, while projecting net sales from international operations in excess of $5 billion..
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $2.68 per share for fiscal 2013. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
While reporting second-quarter financial results in mid-December, the company had raised its adjusted earnings guidance for fiscal 2013. At that time, Powell stated, "We are working to build on our good performance year-to-date. We're launching a promising slate of new products in our core U.S. market."
Excluding acquisitions, international sales have been growing at a high single-digit compound rate over the past five years, the company said. It made several acquisitions recently, most notably the international Yoplait yogurt business and Yoki Alimentos in Brazil.
General mills also previewed its fiscal 2014 plans, and said it is looking for "high single-digit EPS growth, consistent with our long-term model." The company also expects U.S. retail segment to achieve low single-digit sales growth and stronger operating profit growth.
For fiscal 2014, the company expects established businesses to record continued sales and profit growth, with new businesses to contribute sales growth and about $0.15 of operating earnings per share.
Street is currently looking for full-year 2014 earnings of $2.90 per share on annual revenues of $18.39 billion.
General Mills has a portfolio of leading brands, including Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Old El Paso and Häagen-Dazs, and holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in growing food categories worldwide.
The company also noted that it plans to return greater levels of cash to shareholders in fiscal 2014 through both increased share repurchase activity and dividend growth. However, the company added that the repurchase activity is expected to reduce the average number of diluted shares outstanding by 2 percent in fiscal 2014.
GIS closed Friday's regular trading session at $44.59, unchanged on a volume of 6.66 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $36.75 to $44.62.
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