Packaged food supplier General Mills, Inc. (GIS) reported an improvement in third-quarter net earnings attributable to company to $398.4 million, or $0.60 per share, from $391.5 million, or $0.58 per share, a year back. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, adjusted earnings per share amounted to $0.64 in the recent quarter. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.57 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Quarterly net sales reached $4.43 billion, up 7.5 percent from $4.12 billion a year before, while it beat consensus estimates of $4.36 billion. New businesses contributed 6 points of net sales growth; while excluding new businesses, net sales were up 2 percent with 1 point of growth from higher pound volume.
According to the company, contributions from new businesses in this reporting period chiefly reflect operating results for Yoki Alimentos in Brazil and Yoplait Canada.
Looking forward to the fourth quarter, General Mills anticipates supply chain costs to be above year-ago levels. The company still estimates fiscal 2013 input cost inflation of 3 percent. Fourth-quarter spending to support in-store merchandising also is likely to be above year-ago levels. Adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter are projected to be below last year results that grew 15 percent.
Including this fourth quarter targets, General Mills raised its guidance for fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings per share to $2.66 - $2.68, excluding mark-to-market effects, a net tax benefit recorded in the first quarter, and restructuring and integration costs. Analysts project full-year earnings of $2.68 per share.
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