General Mills Reaffirms Fiscal 2019 Outlook

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with discussions today and tomorrow at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference, General Mills (NYSE: GIS) reaffirmed its key financial targets for the fiscal year ending May 26, 2019.  Net sales are expected to increase 9 to 10 percent from fiscal 2018 levels, with organic net sales ranging between flat and up 1 percent.  Constant-currency adjusted operating profit is expected to increase 6 to 9 percent.  Fiscal 2019 adjusted diluted earnings per share (which excludes certain items affecting comparability) are expected to range between flat and down 3 percent in constant currency.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our current expectations and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, our predictions about future net sales and earnings could be affected by a variety of factors, including: competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and the markets for our products, including new product introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and promotional activities of our competitors; economic conditions, including changes in inflation rates, interest rates, tax rates, or the availability of capital; product development and innovation; consumer acceptance of new products and product improvements; consumer reaction to pricing actions and changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets, including our acquisition of Blue Buffalo and issues in the integration of Blue Buffalo and retention of key management and employees; unfavorable reaction to our acquisition of Blue Buffalo by customers, competitors, suppliers, and employees; changes in capital structure; changes in the legal and regulatory environment, including tax legislation, labeling and advertising regulations, and litigation; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in accounting standards and the impact of significant accounting estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer demand for our products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and promotional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials, packaging, and energy; disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain; effectiveness of restructuring and cost saving initiatives; volatility in the market value of derivatives used to manage price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates used to determine plan liabilities; failure or breach of our information technology systems; foreign economic conditions, including currency rate fluctuations; and political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war.  The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any future events or circumstances.  

Our fiscal 2019 outlook for organic net sales growth and constant-currency adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude, or have otherwise been adjusted for, items impacting comparability, including the effect of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, restructuring charges and project-related costs, acquisition transaction and integration costs and mark-to-market effects. Our fiscal 2019 outlook for organic net sales growth also excludes the effect of acquisitions and divestitures. We are not able to reconcile these forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts because we are unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the actual impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices or the timing of acquisitions, divestitures and restructuring actions throughout fiscal 2019. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on our fiscal 2019 GAAP financial results.

For fiscal 2019, we currently expect: foreign currency exchange rates (based on blend of forward and forecasted rates and hedge positions), acquisitions, and divestitures to increase net sales growth by high single digits; foreign currency exchange rates to have an immaterial impact on adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted EPS growth; and total restructuring charges and project-related costs related to actions previously announced to total approximately $13 million.

About General Mills
General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki, Blue and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2018 consolidated net sales of US $15.7 billion, as well as another US $1.1 billion from its proportionate share of joint-venture net sales.

SOURCE General Mills, Inc.