General Mills Reaffirms Fiscal 2020 Guidance at CAGNY

In conjunction with a presentation today at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) investor conference, General Mills (NYSE: GIS) reaffirmed its key financial targets for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2020. Those targets include:

• Organic net sales are expected to increase 1 to 2 percent. The combination of currency translation, the impact of divestitures executed in fiscal 2019, and contributions from the 53^rd week in fiscal 2020 are expected to increase reported net sales by approximately 1 percentage point.
• Constant-currency adjusted operating profit is expected to increase 2 to 4 percent. The benefit of the extra fiscal week is being reinvested in capabilities and brand-building initiatives to drive improvement in the company’s organic sales growth rate in 2020 and beyond.
• Constant-currency adjusted diluted EPS are expected to increase 3 to 5 percent.
• The company expects free cash flow conversion of at least 105 percent of adjusted after-tax earnings.
• Currency translation is expected to have an immaterial impact on fiscal 2020 adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted EPS.

During the rapidly evolving situation related to the coronavirus outbreak in China in recent weeks, General Mills and our China team have prioritized the safety of our consumers, employees, and other stakeholders by following government and health organization guidance regarding safety precautions. Nearly half of our company-owned Häagen-Dazs shops in Greater China have been temporarily closed, and the remaining shops are operating under severely restricted hours. For context, the Greater China region represents approximately 4 percent of General Mills net sales, of which approximately 40 percent are net sales from Häagen-Dazs shops and other foodservice outlets. Because of the evolving nature of the situation, we are not able to quantify the financial impact of the outbreak on our fiscal 2020 results at this time.

A live webcast of today’s General Mills presentation at the CAGNY conference is scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. CT (8:00 a.m. ET). Interested investors can access the webcast and presentation slides at www.generalmills.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will be available on the company’s website.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our current expectations and assumptions. These forward-looking statements, including the statements under the caption “Fiscal 2020 Outlook,” and statements made by Mr. Harmening, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, our predictions about future net sales and earnings could be affected by a variety of factors, including: competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and the markets for our products, including new product introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and promotional activities of our competitors; economic conditions, including changes in inflation rates, interest rates, tax rates, or the availability of capital; product development and innovation; consumer acceptance of new products and product improvements; consumer reaction to pricing actions and changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets, including our acquisition of Blue Buffalo and issues in the integration of Blue Buffalo and retention of key management and employees; unfavorable reaction to our acquisition of Blue Buffalo by customers, competitors, suppliers, and employees; changes in capital structure; changes in the legal and regulatory environment, including tax legislation, labeling and advertising regulations, and litigation; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in accounting standards and the impact of significant accounting estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer demand for our products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and promotional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials, packaging, and energy; disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain; effectiveness of restructuring and cost saving initiatives; volatility in the market value of derivatives used to manage price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates used to determine plan liabilities; failure or breach of our information technology systems; foreign economic conditions, including currency rate fluctuations; and political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any future events or circumstances.

Our fiscal 2020 outlook for organic net sales growth, adjusted operating profit, and adjusted diluted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude, or have otherwise been adjusted for, items impacting comparability, including the effect of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, restructuring charges and project-related costs, acquisition transaction and integration costs, and mark-to-market effects. Our fiscal 2020 outlook for organic net sales growth also excludes the effect of a 53rd week, acquisitions, and divestitures. We are not able to reconcile these forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts because we are unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the actual impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices or the timing of acquisitions, divestitures and restructuring actions throughout fiscal 2020. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on our fiscal 2020 GAAP financial results.

For fiscal 2020, we currently expect: foreign currency exchange rates (based on a blend of forward and forecasted rates and hedge positions), acquisitions, divestitures, and a 53rd week to increase net sales growth by approximately 1 percentage point; foreign currency exchange rates to have an immaterial impact on adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted EPS growth; and restructuring charges and project-related costs related to actions previously announced to total approximately $49 million.

About General Mills

General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki, BLUE and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2019 net sales of U.S. $16.9 billion. In addition, General Mills’ share of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.0 billion.

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