General Mills

General Mills logged a 10% organic sales decline in its international business during its fiscal 4Q, driven by difficult market conditions in Brazil and China, CFO Kofi Bruce says on a call with analysts. The consumer environment in Brazil is shaky and customers are reducing inventory levels significantly from a year ago, he says. And while China had a strong start to the year, there’s been “a real soaring downturn” in consumer sentiment in the most recent quarter that dented traffic for its Häagen-Dazs business and our premium dumpling business, the CFO says.

General Mills offered tepid guidance for the fiscal year and warned that the front-end of the year is expected to see the most pressure, particularly for its North American retail business. The Cheerios maker is lapping tough comps from last year’s 1Q, which was boosted by pricing power that has since ebbed, so the current 1Q is expected to be “the toughest of the four quarters in the year,” CEO Jeff Harmening says on a call with analysts. “I would expect gradual improvement as we look at our sales and profitability over the course of the year,” he says.

General Mills shares fell after the consumer-foods company reported lower quarterly sales and gave tepid annual guidance, as it contends with declining volumes and a difficult pricing environment. Shares in the maker of Lucky Charms cereal and Bisquick pancake mix slid 4.5% to $64.24 in premarket trading. The company’s sales fell 6% last quarter from a year earlier, as volumes weakened in its pet and North American retail business and retailers reduced inventory. The weaker top line weighed on earnings, which also took a hit from intangible asset impairments that offset a pullback in overhead costs and restructuring charges. General Mills is guiding for volume trends to gradually improve in the year ahead and potentially drive organic sales higher, but said it doesnt expect more than 1% growth. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 1.7% to 60 cents. The companys quarter, by the numbers: — Profit fell 9% to

General Mills, the maker of Wheaties, Cheerios and other packaged foods, is set to report earnings for the May-ended fourth fiscal quarter before the market opens Wednesday. Stubbornly high inflation and increased prices have pressured American households to load their shopping carts with generic items instead of favorite brands. Analysts polled by FactSet expect General Mills’ sales to decline 3.6% to $4.85 billion from a year ago, while earnings per share are seen at 99 cents, down 11.6%. “We see a generally muted quarter for General Mills as management commentary and consumption data point to soft trends,” wrote RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi in a note last week. He has a Sector Perform rating on General Mills stock with a $70 target price. General Mills’ previous quarterly earnings report was strong. Price increases contributed two percentage points to the firm’s sales growth, but it was largely offset by lower

Shares of General Mills Inc. (GIS) jumped 3.2% toward a seven-month high in premarket trading Wednesday, after the consumer-foods company reported fiscal third-quarter profit that rose above expectations, as price increases and cost savings helped offset volume declines. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 25 rose to $670.1 million, or $1.17 a share, from $553.1 million, or 92 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $1.05. Sales slipped 0.5% to $5.10 billion, but were above the FactSet consensus of $4.97 billion, as sales declined for its pet and international businesses, was flat for North America retail and edged up for North America foodservice. Gross margin improved by one percentage point to 33.5%. For the full fiscal year, the company affirmed its guidance ranges for adjusted EPS growth, excluding the impacts of currency translation, of 4% to

Profit tops expectations but full-year revenue outlook lowered because volume recovery has been slower than forecast Shares of General Mills Inc. sank Wednesday, after the consumer-foods company missed fiscal second-quarter revenue expectations and lowered its full-year outlook as sales volumes have recovered at a slower-than-anticipated pace. “While many factors have evolved in line with our expectations – including moderating levels of input cost inflation and price/mix, as well as a return toward historical price elasticities – we’re seeing consumers continue to display stronger-than-anticipated value-seeking behaviors across our key markets, and this dynamic is delaying volume recovery in our categories,” said Chief Executive Jeff Harmening. The stock (GIS) dropped 4.4% toward a three-week low in premarket trading. The company, the parent of brands including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs and Betty Crocker, said net income for the quarter to Nov. 26 was $595.5 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with $605.9 million, or $1.01

We keep our 12-month target at $60, 13.6x our FY 24 (May) EPS of $4.42 (cut from $4.44; FY 25 up to $4.58 from $4.54) vs. the 17x historical average and the 13x current peer average. FQ1 (Aug-Q) adj-EPS of $1.09 (-1% Y/Y) beat by a penny on sales of $4,905M (+4% Y/Y), in line with consensus. While organic sales grew 4%, organic volumes were down about 2%. The Pet segment (12% of annual sales), which has historically been GIS’s fastest-growing segment, is currently facing softness as pet parents trade down and rationalize, which includes buying less wet pet food and pet snacks. The North America Retail segment (63% of annual sales) is also facing headwinds, including less benefits from inflation-driven pricing and expanding price elasticities. GIS increased media spending by a double-digit percentage, resulting in operating margins falling nearly 40 bps Y/Y to 18.3%. While GIS reiterated its full-year

General Mills CFO Says Do Not Expect The Operating Profit Margins To Improve This Year。

General Mills Reaffirms FY24 Sales Growth Of 3% – 4%; Adj EPS Growth Of 4% – 6%.