Kellogg Company Reports Second-Quarter Earnings Per Share Broadly In-line With Expectations and Provides Revised Guidance
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) today announced second-quarter results for earnings per share that were broadly in-line with the company’s expectations. Second-quarter 2014 reported net sales decreased by 0.8 percent to $3.7 billion. Internal net sales,* which exclude the effects of foreign currency translation, acquisitions, dispositions, and integration costs, decreased by 1.5 percent over the same period. Second-quarter 2014 operating profit was $467 million, a reported decrease of 18.1 percent; this decrease was driven primarily by costs associated with Project K, the company’s four-year efficiency and effectiveness program, and lower sales. Underlying internal operating profit,* which excludes the effects of foreign currency translation, acquisitions, dispositions, mark-to-market accounting, integration costs, and costs associated with Project K, decreased by 7.2 percent. The decline in underlying internal operating profit was largely the result of lower sales, and investment in brand-building activities.
Reported earnings for the second quarter 2014 were $295 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, a decrease of 15 percent from the $0.96 per diluted share reported in the second quarter of last year. This quarter’s reported earnings per share included an impact from mark-to-market of $0.02 per share, $0.16 per share of costs associated with Project K, and approximately $0.02 per share of integration costs related to the acquisition of Pringles. Excluding these items, comparable second quarter 2014 earnings* were $1.02 per share, broadly in-line with the company’s expectations; this result included a $0.02 benefit from currency-translation.
“We have announced earnings per share for the second quarter that were broadly in-line with our expectations. While we saw growth in various areas of our business including Pringles and the international segments, the cereal category in developed markets remained challenging,” said John Bryant, Kellogg Company’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Our Project K efficiency and effectiveness program continues to go well, and we are in the very early stages of the increased investment we are making in our developed-markets business. We know that improvement will take some time, but we believe we are making the right decisions to drive profitable revenue growth in the future.”
North America
Net sales posted by Kellogg North America were $2.4 billion in the second quarter, a reported decrease of 3.7 percent; internal net sales decreased by 3.4 percent. The U.S. Morning Foods segment posted an internal net sales decline of 4.9 percent. Internal net sales in the U.S. Snacks segment decreased by 2.7 percent. The U.S. Specialty Channels segment posted a 1.4 percent internal net sales increase in the quarter and the North America Other segment, which is comprised of the U.S. Frozen Foods and Canadian businesses, posted a 4.9 percent decrease in internal net sales. Reported operating profit in North America decreased by 11.9 percent; underlying internal operating profit declined by 8.7 percent, largely as the result of lower sales and increased investment in brand building.
International
Reported net sales increased by 6.9 percent in Europe in the quarter; internal net sales increased by 0.7 percent. In Latin America, reported net sales increased by 5.2 percent and internal net sales increased by 6.9 percent, due to strong price realization, innovation, and brand-building activities. Reported net sales in Asia Pacific decreased by 1.5 percent and internal net sales increased by 0.5 percent.
Interest and Tax
Kellogg’s interest expense was $50 million in the second quarter. The underlying tax rate* in the second quarter of 2014 was 28.7 percent.
Cash flow
Cash flow,* a non-GAAP measure defined as cash from operating activities less capital expenditures, was $428 million for the first half of the year. The company anticipates that cash flow for the year will be at the low end of the range between $1 billion and $1.1 billion.
Year-to-date, Kellogg has repurchased $329 million of shares, far exceeding option proceeds of $124 million.
* Internal sales growth, underlying internal operating profit growth, comparable earnings, underlying effective tax rate and cash flow are all non-GAAP financial measures. See the tables herein for important information regarding these measures and a full reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure.
Kellogg Revises Full-Year 2014 Guidance
The company lowered its guidance for the full-year of 2014. Internal net sales are now expected to decline by between one and two percent. Underlying internal operating profit growth is expected to decline by between one and three percent. Currency-neutral comparable earnings per share are expected to be in a range between a decline of one percent and an increase of one percent. Integration costs associated with the acquisition of the Pringles business are still expected to be in a range between $0.07 and $0.09 per share. Costs associated with Project K are still expected to be in a range between $0.60 and $0.65 per share. As a result, earnings excluding the impact of mark-to-market accounting, integration costs, Project K and other items impacting comparability are anticipated to be between $3.81 and $3.89 per share. This year’s 53rd week is now expected to add approximately $0.07 per share to earnings and currency translation is now expected to add $0.03 per share. As a result, the company expects an earnings range including the impact of the 53rd week and currency translation of between $3.91 and $3.99 per share.
Conference Call / Webcast
Kellogg will host a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call and accompanying presentation slides will be broadcast live over the Internet at http://investor.kelloggs.com. Analysts and institutional investors may participate in the Q&A session by dialing (877) 270-2148 in the U.S., and (412) 902-6510 outside of the U.S. Members of the media and the public are invited to attend in a listen-only mode. Rebroadcast information is available at http://investor.kelloggs.com.
About Kellogg Company
At Kellogg Company (NYSE: K), we are driven to enrich and delight the world through foods and brands that matter. With 2013 sales of approximately $14.8 billion, Kellogg is the world’s leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies and crackers; a leading producer of savory snacks; and a leading North American frozen foods company. Every day, our well-loved brands nourish families so they can flourish and thrive. These brands include Kellogg’s®, Keebler®, Special K®, Pringles®, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®, Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®, Rice Krispies®, Kashi®, Cheez-It®, Eggo®, Coco Pops®, Mini-Wheats®, and many more. To learn more about our responsible business leadership, foods that delight and how we strive to make a difference in our communities around the world, visit www.kelloggcompany.com.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Certain financial measures have been provided on a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis. Management believes the use of such non-GAAP measures provides increased transparency and assists investors in understanding the underlying operating performance of the company and its segments and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. All non-GAAP financial measures have been reconciled with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in the attachments provided with the release.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure
This news release contains, or incorporates by reference, “forward-looking statements” with projections concerning, among other things, the Company’s efficiency-and-effectiveness program (Project K), the integration of the Pringles® business, the Company’s strategy, and the Company’s sales, earnings, margin, operating profit, costs and expenditures, interest expense, tax rate, capital expenditure, dividends, cash flow, debt reduction, share repurchases, costs, charges, rates of return, brand building, ROIC, working capital, growth, new products, innovation, cost reduction projects, workforce reductions, savings, and competitive pressures. Forward-looking statements include predictions of future results or activities and may contain the words “expects,” “believes,” “should,” “will,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “estimates,” “implies,” “can,” or words or phrases of similar meaning.
The Company’s actual results or activities may differ materially from these predictions. The Company’s future results could also be affected by a variety of factors, including the ability to implement Project K as planned, whether the expected amount of costs associated with Project K will differ from forecasts, whether the Company will be able to realize the anticipated benefits from Project K in the amounts and times expected, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies from the Pringles acquisition in the amounts and at the times expected, the impact of competitive conditions; the effectiveness of pricing, advertising, and promotional programs; the success of innovation, renovation and new product introductions; the recoverability of the carrying value of goodwill and other intangibles; the success of productivity improvements and business transitions; commodity and energy prices; labor costs; disruptions or inefficiencies in supply chain; the availability of and interest rates on short-term and long-term financing; actual market performance of benefit plan trust investments; the levels of spending on systems initiatives, properties, business opportunities, integration of acquired businesses, and other general and administrative costs; changes in consumer behavior and preferences; the effect of U.S. and foreign economic conditions on items such as interest rates, statutory tax rates, currency conversion and availability; legal and regulatory factors including changes in food safety, advertising and labeling laws and regulations; the ultimate impact of product recalls; business disruption or other losses from war, terrorist acts or political unrest; and other items.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly.
