NEW YORK (AP) — General Mills Inc. reported a drop in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit on higher costs but that performance topped Wall Street expectations and its sales improved. The maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and other packaged foods also provided an upbeat outlook for fiscal 2019.
For the period ended May 27, General Mills Inc.'s profit fell 13.3 percent to $354.4 million, or 59 cents per share.
Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 79 cents per share. That's better than the 73 cents per share analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.
Revenue rose 2.2 percent to $3.89 billion, with sales gains in every region except Asia and Latin America. Wall Street expected slightly higher revenue of $3.91 billion.
For fiscal 2018, profit surged 28.6 percent to $2.13 billion, or $3.64 per share, mainly on a massive tax cut that put the company's effective tax rate at 2.7 percent for the year. Revenue rose less than one percent to $15.74 billion.
Looking ahead, the company expects profit to range from flat to rising 3 percent from an adjusted figure of $3.11 in 2018. It also expects up to a 10 percent boost in revenue with the impact of its Blue Buffalo acquisition.
Shares rose slightly before the opening bell on Wednesday.