General Mills Inc, maker of Cheerios cereal and Progresso soup, on Thursday reported higher quarterly earnings as higher sales offset increased fuel, packaging and marketing costs.
Net income for the third quarter was $246 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with $230 million, or 58 cents per share, a year ago.
Wall Street analysts had expected the No 2 maker of breakfast cereal to report earnings of between 63 cents and 69 cents per share with an average view of 65 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Total sales rose 3 percent to $2.86 billion.
Like others in the packaged food industry, the No 2 maker of breakfast cereal has been hit by soaring prices on commodities like sugar, soybeans and energy.
To help alleviate the impact of some of those increases, General Mills last year raised prices on its Big G cereals, which include Cheerios, Wheaties, and Lucky Charms, a move that led to market share losses to rival Kellogg Co. Since then, Big G volumes have improved, in part because General Mills increased marketing activity.
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