General Mills Reports Q2 EPS $0.76 vs $0.79 Est; Revenues $4.62B vs $4.60B Est GIS

General Mills (NYSE:

) today reported results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2012. Fiscal 2012 Second-quarter Financial Summary Net sales grew 14 percent to $4.62 billion. The international Yoplait acquisition completed on July 1, 2011 contributed 8 points of net sales growth. Segment operating profit rose 2 percent to $873 million, including significantly higher input costs year-over-year and increased advertising expense. Diluted earnings per share (

) totaled 67 cents. Adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes certain items affecting comparability of results, totaled 76 cents, matching the year-ago level. Net sales for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 27, 2011, grew 14 percent to $4.62 billion. Price realization and mix contributed 3 points of sales growth, and foreign exchange contributed 1 point of growth. Pound volume contributed 10 points of growth, including 14 points of growth from the Yoplait acquisition. Gross margin as a percent of net sales was below year-ago levels due to higher input costs and the change in business mix to include the Yoplait acquisition. Advertising and media expense increased 8 percent in the period. Segment operating profit grew 2 percent to $873 million. Second-quarter net earnings attributable to General Mills totaled $445 million and diluted earnings per share totaled 67 cents. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which excludes the effects of mark-to-market valuation of certain commodity positions in both fiscal 2012 and 2011, Yoplait integration costs in 2012, and a net benefit from certain tax matters in 2011, totaled 76 cents for the second quarter in each year. (Please see Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements below for a reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure.) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Powell said, “General Mills second-quarter results show good net sales growth worldwide. Our Yoplait acquisition fueled a more than 50 percent increase in total international sales. Strong levels of net price realization and product innovation drove sales increases for our established International operations, and for our Bakeries & Foodservice and U.S. Retail business segments. Significantly higher input costs pressured our margins, as expected. But in total, performance for the quarter and year-to-date has us on track to meet the key financial targets we have set for fiscal 2012.”