Flowers Foods Increases Dividend

THOMASVILLE, Ga., June 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Prior to the Flowers Foods FLO annual shareholders meeting today, the company's board of directors announced a quarterly dividend of $.145 per share, which represents an increase of 9.4 % over the quarterly dividend paid previously. The dividend is payable on July 2, 2015, to shareholders of record on June 19, 2015. This action increases the annualized dividend rate to $.58 per share, a 20.8% increase from the annualized rate at this time last year.

Allen L. Shiver, Flowers Foods' president and CEO, said the board is confident in the company's future performance. "During the first quarter of 2015, we generated significant cash flow and continued to lower debt. We also grew sales of our branded products, expanded gross margins, and improved manufacturing efficiencies," he said. "The board believes Flowers Foods is in an excellent position to reward our shareholders with an increased dividend, allowing our investors to continue participating in the company's success." 

During the shareholders meeting today, members of management will review the company's operating strategies and financial performance. The meeting is being webcast live at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on www.flowersfoods.com and also will be archived on the website.

Company Information

Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. FLO is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2014 sales of $3.75 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Wonder, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to current expectations regarding our future financial condition, performance and results of operations, planned capital expenditures, long-term objectives of management, supply and demand, pricing trends and market forces, and integration plans and expected benefits of transactions and are often identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to," "is expected to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those projected. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this release and that may affect the company's prospects in general include, but are not limited to (a) competitive conditions in the baked foods industry, including promotional and price competition, (b) changes in consumer demand for our products, including changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and whole grain trends, and the movement toward more inexpensive store-branded products, (c) the success of productivity improvements and new product introductions, (d) a significant reduction in business with any of our major customers including a reduction from adverse developments in any of our customer's business, (e) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (f) energy and raw material costs and availability and hedging and counterparty risk, (g) our ability to fully integrate recent acquisitions into our business, (h) our ability to achieve cash flow from capital expenditures and acquisitions and the availability of new acquisitions that build shareholder value; (i) consolidation within the baking industry and related industries; (j) disruptions in our direct-store delivery system, including litigation or an adverse ruling from a court or regulatory or government body that could affect the independent contractor classification of our independent distributors, and (k) the failure of our information technology systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions or security breaches of such systems. The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the company, including the risk factors included in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company press releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the company. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.