Flowers Foods Q2 2013 net earnings rise 64%

US-based producer of packaged bakery goods Flowers Foods has reported a 64% rise in second-quarter earnings to $46.5m, compared with $28.4m for the same period in 2012.

The net earnings were driven by the company’s recent acquisitions of Lepage Bakeries and some of Sara Lee’s bread brands in California, which also helped boost the packaged-baked-goods company’s revenue and sales volume, the company said.

For the quarter ended 13 July 2013, net sales increased 32% to $898.2m, compared with $681.6m a year ago, driven by increased volumes of 22% and contributions from the Lepage Bakeries and Sara Lee/California acquisitions of 10.9%, partially offset by unfavourable net price/mix of 0.9%.

Commenting on the results, Flowers Foods president and CEO Allen Shiver said that, similar to the results reported last quarter, sales were up across all channels and earnings were strong.

"Margins improved due to higher volume and capacity utilisation," Shiver added.

"It is gratifying that our long-term investments in our bakeries, distribution systems, and our team positioned us to take advantage of growth opportunities available in the marketplace."

For the full-year, Flowers Foods expects sales in the range of $3.7bn to $3.8bn, an increase of 24.5% to 25.5% compared with 2012, earnings per share between $0.92 and $0.98 and capital expenditures of $90m to $100m.

In July, Flowers Foods completed the acquisition of certain bread brands and assets from Old HB, formerly known as Hostess Brands, for $355m.

The company stated that its plans to re-introduce these well-known bread brands across its direct-store-delivery (DSD) markets later this year are taking shape.

Flowers Foods intends to continue its methodical market expansion into new regions of the US using the new brands as well as its existing legacy brands such as Nature’s Own.