General Mills Q4 Profit Falls 41%

General Mills said its fourth quarter net income fell 41% to $211.9m, or $0.31 a share, compared to $358.8m, or $0.53 a share, a year ago.

The US-based food producer reported adjusted earnings of $281.4m compared to $288.4m in the previous year’s quarter.

During the quarter, gross margin declined to 36.2% from 42.4% a year ago, while adjusted gross margin remained flat with last year at 37.7%.

The company said its sales fell 2.1% to $3.57bn from $3.65bn in the same quarter last year.

For the fourth quarter, the company’s US retail sales declined 1.7% to $2.4bn, while its international retail sales grew 4.3% to $672.8m.

Fourth quarter sales from the company’s bakeries and foodservice segment fell 12% year-over-year to $459m.