General Mills Q1 Profit Beats Views

General Mills, Inc. GIS reported better-than-expected profit for its fiscal first quarter. However, the company posted a drop in its quarterly sales. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company posted quarterly net earnings of $426.6 million, or $0.69 per share, compared to $345.2 million, or $0.55 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.79 per share. Its sales slipped 1.4 percent to $4.21 billion. On a constant-currency basis, sales rose 4 percent. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.69 per share on revenue of $4.25 billion. The average estimate among 15 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.70 per share and revenue of $4.22 billion. International sales shrank 11 percent to $1.20 billion for the quarter, while U.S. retail segment sales gained 4 percent to $2.53 billion. During the quarter, the company repurchased 2.7 million shares of common stock at an aggregate price of $152 million. General Mills Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Powell said, "We're pleased with our progress in the first quarter. At the same time, we know there is more work to be done to achieve our 2016 objectives. We remain focused on generating sustainable topline growth by expanding the impact of our Consumer First strategy while we continue to increase our efficiency and improve our margins." For the full fiscal year, General Mills reiterated its growth outlook for 2016. General Mills shares gained 0.37 percent to close at $56.78 yesterday.