General Mills has reported a decline in net sales for the seventh successive quarter.
Sales for the three months to 26 February were down 5% to $3.79 billion, impacted primarily by volume reductions in the North American retail segment. The company said that volumes of yogurt, processed meals and bakery products have all fallen.
Consumers have been abandoning processed foods like Progresso soup and Pillsbury refrigerated dough, with General Mills shifting its focus to more profitable areas of its business, including the breakfast cereal Cheerios.
Operating profit fell 7% year-on-year to $542 million, while its operating profit margin was down to 14.3%.
The Minneapolis-headquartered company has not posted a growth in its net sales since the three months to the end of May 2015.
But it reaffirmed its commitment to ‘generating a balance of topline growth and margin expansion’.
General Mills chairman and chief executive officer Ken Powell said: “Our third-quarter results finished in line with our expectations and keep us on track to deliver the guidance we updated last month. Our net sales declined primarily due to gaps in pricing and promotional activity in key US businesses. Our cost savings efforts helped us expand our adjusted operating profit margin and drive growth in adjusted diluted [earnings per share].
“Looking ahead, we are highly focused on improving our topline performance while continuing to expand our margins. We’ve added support in the fourth quarter to strengthen key business lines, and we’re pursuing global growth priorities that will further improve our sales trends beyond fiscal 2017.”
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