UPDATE: General Mills Posts Upbeat Q2 Earnings, Revenue Misses View

General Mills

reported upbeat earnings for the second quarter. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company posted a quarterly net income of $346.1 million, or $0.56 per share, compared to $549.9 million, or $0.84 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings came in at $0.80 per share, down from $0.83 per share. Its revenue dropped 3.4% to $4.71 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.77 per share on revenue of $4.79 billion. Net sales at its US retail segment dropped 4% to $2.86 billion in the quarter, while net sales for consolidated international businesses slipped 6% to $1.32 billion. Net sales for the Convenience Stores and Foodservice segment climbed 4% to $530 million in the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses slipped 5.1% in the quarter. During the first half, the company repurchased around 19 million shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $969 million. General Mills Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Powell said, "Second-quarter results were broadly in line with the updated outlook we provided in early November. Net sales declined for the quarter as anticipated, reflecting continued weak food-industry trends in the U.S. and slowing growth in key emerging markets. Adjusted diluted EPS came in slightly better than our estimate, primarily due to differences in expense timing. These quarterly results keep us on track to achieve the full-year fiscal 2015 targets announced last month." General Mills reaffirmed its guidance for 2015 full-year. Powell added, "The operating environment remains challenging but, as we move into the second half of our fiscal year, we expect to renew sales and profit growth." General Mills shares fell 0.66% to close at $51.13 yesterday.