General Mills, Inc. Misses Estimates on Flat Q2 Sales (GIS)

Before the opening bell on Wednesday, General Mills (GIS) reported its fiscal 2014 Q2 earnings, with sales staying essentially flat from last year’s same quarter.

GIS Earnings in Brief

-General Mills’ Q2 sales at $4.876 billion, which is basically flat from last year’s Q2 sales of $4.882 billion.
-Net earnings attributable to General Mills were up 1.5% to $549.9 million from last year’s Q2 figure of $541.6 million.
-On an adjusted basis, EPS came in at 83 cents per diluted share, which was down from the 86 cents reported in last year’s Q2.
-GIS missed analysts’ estimates of 88 cents EPS on revenues of $4.95 billion.
-Looking to FY2014, GIS reaffirmed its EPS outlook of $2.87-$2.90; analysts are expecting $2.90 per share.

CEO Commentary

General Mills chairman and CEO Ken Powell had the following to say about the company’s Q2 performance: “The second quarter was a difficult comparison to strong prior-year sales and earnings results for our businesses.  In addition, the period included the highest quarterly input cost inflation we expect to see this fiscal year, and food and beverage industry sales in the U.S. and other developed markets slowed a bit during the quarter.  Even so, our bottom-line results through the first half of the year are broadly consistent with our plans.”

No Dividend Change

The company made no change to its dividend, which was to be expected as GIS raised its quarterly payout this past summer to 38 cents from 33 cents. General Mills most recently declared a dividend on December 10, which is payable on February 2, 2014.

Stock Performance

General Mills stock was down 98 cents, or 1.98%, in pre-market trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up 19.99%.