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Fourth-quarter net income was $358.8 million, higher than last year's $185.2 million. On a per-share basis, earnings surged 101.9% to $1.07 from $0.53 a year ago.
Excluding a loss on product lines divested in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the mark-to-market effects in both periods, earnings for the fourth quarter totaled $0.86 per share, up 18% from $0.73 per share last year.
On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.80 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net sales were up 5% to $3.65 billion from $3.47 billion in the previous year, but missed Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. The company noted that pound volume growth contributed 3 points of the sales increase, while foreign currency translation reduced sales growth by 3 points.
For the fiscal year 2009, General Mills' net earnings edged up 0.7% to $1.304 billion from $1.295 billion last year. Earnings per share went up 2.4% to $3.80 from $3.71 last year.
Adjusted earnings for the year climbed 13% to $3.98 per share from comparable earnings of $3.52 per share in fiscal 2008. Annual net sales rose 7.6% to $14.69 billion from $13.65 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of $3.92 per share on net sales of $14.74 billion for the year.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Powell said, "In 2009, we held our margins in the face of sharply higher input costs, and we significantly increased the level of consumer marketing support for our brands. These actions have positioned General Mills to achieve another year of good growth in fiscal 2010."
Looking ahead, General Mills said it expects fiscal 2010 earnings to be between $4.20 and $4.25 per share, assuming no mark-to-market impact in the year. The guidance includes estimated negative foreign exchange effects of approximately $0.15 per share, and represents growth of 6% to 7% from the company's fiscal 2009 adjusted earnings per share of $3.98. For fiscal 2010, Wall Street analysts forecast earnings of $4.18 per share.
Powell added, "Our plans assume that world economic conditions remain challenging, and that foreign currency translation and transaction effects will reduce our reported sales and earnings growth rates. However, we expect the rate of input cost inflation to moderate, and we believe savings from our holistic margin management initiatives will exceed cost increases."
GIS closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $56.02, up $0.18, on a volume of 3.4 million shares.
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