General Mills reports record results for Q2

Filed by Shaun Weston

Highlights

• Net sales increased to $4.08bn, led by 4% growth in US retail sales.
• Segment operating profit increased 13% to $880m.
• Diluted earnings per share grew at a strong double-digit rate to $1.66.
• Excluding certain items affecting comparability, earnings per share grew 13% to $1.54, exceeding the consensus of analyst estimates.

Net sales for the 13 weeks ended 29 November 2009 grew 2% to $4.08bn, led by 4% growth in US retail net sales. The comparison was difficult – in last year’s second quarter, total company net sales grew 8% and US retail net sales grew 10%.

Foreign currency translation contributed one point of net sales growth. The contribution from pound volume was flat, including the loss of two points of growth from divested products. US retail pound volume grew 2% above last year’s second-quarter level, which was up 5%.

Chairman and CEO, Ken Powell, said: “Consumers around the world continue to focus on nutritious, convenient food choices that help them make breakfast, lunch and dinner for their families at good value. Demand for our leading brands remains strong. These good sales levels, combined with the accumulating benefits of our holistic margin management (HMM) efforts, are continuing to drive terrific operating performance in our manufacturing plants. This strong, fundamental business momentum has enabled us to raise our EPS targets for the full year.”

General Mills