General Mills Q2 Profit Down, But Adj. EPS Beats Street; Backs FY15 Goals

(RTTNews) - Packaged foods company General Mills Inc. (GIS) announced a significant fall in second-quarter net earnings attributable to the company to $346.1 million, or $0.56 per share, from $549.9 million, or $0.84 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding certain items affecting comparability of results, adjusted per-share earnings amounted to $0.80 in the second quarter of 2015. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to report earnings of $0.77 per share for the quarter. Analysts estimates typically exclude special items. On a constant-currency basis, adjusted EPS essentially matched prior-year results, the company said.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based maker of Cheerios and Fiber One cereals posted 13-week net sales of $4.71 billion, down 3.4 percent from last year's $4.88 billion. On a constant-currency basis, quarterly net sales slipped by 1 percent.

Looking ahead, the firm confirmed its fiscal 2015 full-year targets. Net sales in constant currency are expected to grow at a low single-digit rate from the 2014 base of $17.9 billion, including an estimated 2 points of sales growth from the 53rd week in fiscal 2015 and some $120 million of incremental sales from the Annie's acquisition.

Fiscal 2015 adjusted earnings per share before mark-to-market valuation effects, currency devaluation and restructuring costs are expected to grow at a low-single-digit rate in constant currency from the base of $2.82 earned in fiscal 2014.