By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – General Mills (NYSE:GIS) fell 1.5% Wednesday in premarket trading after the company’s fourth quarter results showed that the at-home surge in consumption that the pandemic induced is waning.
Demand for the company’s products such as cereals, dough, snacks and soups surged at the outset of the pandemic last year. As more people return to work and step out to eat, that inflated consumption of cooking and baking at home is coming off.
Net sales for the quarter ended May 30 declined 10% from the same quarter a year ago to $4.5 billion. Gross margin was down 20 basis points to 35% of net sales, driven by higher input costs. One basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share fell 19% in constant currency, at 91 cents.
General Mills expects changes in consumer behaviors driven by the Covid-19 pandemic will result in ongoing elevated consumer demand for food at home, relative to pre-pandemic levels.
For the ongoing fiscal 2022, the food producer is forecasting organic net sales to decline 1% to 3%.
Constant-currency adjusted diluted EPS are expected to range between flat and down 2% from the base of $3.79 earned in fiscal 2021.