General Mills Q3 Adj. EPS Tops View; Backs FY15 Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Packaged foods company General Mills Inc. (GIS) posted third-quarter net earnings attributable to the company of $343.2 million, or $0.56 per share, down from $410.6 million, or $0.64 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding certain items affecting comparability of results, adjusted per-share earnings in the latest quarter amounted to $0.70, up from $0.62 per share in the comparable quarter last year. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to report earnings of $0.67 per share for the quarter. Analysts estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the latest third quarter were $4.35 billion, down 1 percent from last year's $4.38 billion. On a constant-currency basis, quarterly net sales grew by 3 percent. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $4.35 billion for the quarter.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, the firm continues to expect adjusted earnings per share to grow at a low-single-digit rate in constant currency from the base of $2.82 earned in fiscal 2014. Analysts currently expect earnings of $2.82 per share for fiscal 2015.

The company expects net sales in constant currency 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 extra week and incremental sales from the Annie's acquisition.