Food giant General Mills beats Q1 estimates

Food company General Mills beat analysts' first-quarter earnings estimates on Wednesday as it says it will target emerging food trends from the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the three months ended 29 August, net profit fell to $627m (£460m) from $638.9m a year earlier on revenue which rose 4% to $4.54bn from $4.36bn in last year’s fiscal first-quarter.

Diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in a penny lower at $1.02 compared with $1.03 a year earlier. Analysts had expected EPS of $0.89 on revenue of $4.29bn, according to Thomson Reuters.

‘Accelerate’ strategy continues

“Our strong execution in the first quarter enabled us to deliver top- and bottom-line results ahead of our expectations. We delivered these good results while continuing to advance our Accelerate strategy, including making important progress on portfolio reshaping in the quarter,” General Mills chairman and chief executive Jeff Harmening said in a press release.

The company’s Accelerate strategy is designed to drive sustainable, profitable growth and top-tier shareholder returns over the long term.

For the year to date, General Mills stock is down 1.8% and closed Tuesday’s session at $58.01.

General Mills also said that plans to capitalise on opportunities such as ongoing elevated consumer demand for food at home driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in the pet population is expected to create tailwinds for the pet-food category.

Pet segment Q1 sales up 25%

First-quarter sales at the company’s Pet segment grew 25% to $488m. In early July the company closed its $1.2bn acquisition of Tyson Foods’ pet treats business, which added the Nudges, True Chews and Top Chews brands to General Mills’ portfolio.

Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed key full-year fiscal 2022 targets and said organic net sales are expected to be toward the higher end of the initial guidance range of down 1% to 3%, reflecting stronger-than-expected net sales performance in the first quarter.

General Mills’ portfolio of brands includes household names such as Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue Buffalo pet food, Pillsbury and Yoplait.

Read more: Tyson beats Street on increased Q3 meat appetite

Related topics

#Earnings

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