General Mills Expects Fiscal Year Earnings To Top Prior View

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

General Mills Inc. (GIS) slightly boosted its fiscal-year earnings target for the fourth time, but sees revenue growth moderating in the coming year as a repeat of recent price increases aren't expected.

Those hikes, meant to cover higher commodity costs, helped boost the top line and came at the same time consumers have increasingly been eating at home, benefiting packaged food companies.

General Mills said Sunday night that earnings for the year ended May 31 will top its March forecast of $3.87 to $3.89 a share thanks to "good operating performance" and a lower tax rate. The company increased its forecast by several cents at a time since giving its initial fiscal-year profit target a year ago at $3.78 to $3.83.

General Mills - whose brands include Yoplait yogurt and Progresso soup - said it would give a detailed view for the coming fiscal year when its fourth-quarter results are released July 1. But it "expressed comfort" with analysts' mean estimate of $4.15 a share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

On the sales front, General Mills said that following a year of sales and volume growth in U.S. retail business - by far its biggest - it expects sales growth to moderate in the new year because of a lack of price increases. The segment's revenue was up 10% in the first three quarters of the fiscal year. Currency impacts are also expected to weigh on revenue in the coming year.

Shares closed Friday at $52.16 and were inactive premarket. The stock is down 14% this year.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2473; [e-mail]