LONDON, January 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings report on General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS). On December 17, 2014, the company reported its financial results for Q2 FY15 (period ended November 23, 2014). Click on http://www.investor-edge.com/FreeReports to read our free earnings review on General Mills Inc. (General Mills). During Q2 FY15, the company's net sales fell by 3% Y-o-Y, with segment operating profit down by 8% Y-o-Y. Chairman and CEO at General Mills, Kendall (Ken) J. Powell said that the company's Q2 FY15 results were broadly in line with the updated outlook provided in early November. He added that the decline in Q2 FY15 net sales was as anticipated and it reflects continued weakness in the U.S. food-industry trends and slowing of growth in key emerging markets. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

http://www.investor-edge.com/register

Earnings Overview

During Q2 FY15, General Mills' net sales decreased to $4.71 billion from $4.88 billion in Q2 FY14. On a constant-currency basis, net sales declined 1% Y-o-Y. The company's reported quarter net sales trailed Bloomberg analysts' forecasts of $4.78 billion. General Mills' US Retail segment net sales declined 3.5% Y-o-Y to $2.86 billion in Q2 FY15. The company's reported Q2 FY15 consolidated international businesses net sales also fell 5.9% Y-o-Y to $1.32 billion, while Convenience Stores and Foodservice segment net sales grew 4.4% Y-o-Y to $0.53 billion. The free research on GIS can be downloaded as in PDF format at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=General%20Mills&d=08-Jan-2015&s=GIS

For Q2 FY15, General Mills' segment operating profit totaled $846.6 million compared with $919.7 million in Q2 FY14. Net earnings attributable to General Mills declined to $346.1 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, during Q2 FY15, from $549.9 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, in Q2 FY14. Analysts from Bloomberg were expecting the company to report net earnings attributable to General Mills of $470.3 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, in Q2 FY15. The company reported adjusted diluted EPS of $0.80 compared to $0.83 in Q2 FY14. Mr. Powell stated that the company's adjusted diluted EPS came in slightly better than the estimate, primarily due to differences in expense timing.

For H1 FY15, the company's net sales declined 3% Y-o-Y to $8.98 billion. On a constant-currency basis, net sales in H1 FY15 fell 1% Y-o-Y. General Mills' segment operating profit for H1 FY15 totaled $1.54 billion, down 11% Y-o-Y as reported and down 10% Y-o-Y in constant currency. In H1 FY15, the company's diluted EPS stood at $1.11 compared to $1.54 in H1 FY14. Moreover, General Mills' adjusted diluted EPS totaled $1.41 in H1 FY15 compared to $1.53 in H1 FY14. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on GIS at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=General%20Mills&d=08-Jan-2015&s=GIS

Commenting on the outlook, Mr. Powell stated that the operating environment remains challenging but the company expects to renew its sales and profit growth in the second half of FY15. General Mills reiterated its growth targets for full-year FY 15, and expects net sales in constant currency to grow at a low-single-digit rate from the 2014 base of $17.9 billion, including an estimated 2 points of sales growth from the 53rd week in FY15 and approximately $120 million of incremental sales from Annie's acquisition. Further, the company anticipates its adjusted diluted EPS to grow at a low single-digit rate in constant currency from the base of $2.82 earned in fiscal 2014. At current exchange rates the company estimates a 5-cent EPS headwind from currency translation in 2015.

In H1 FY15, General Mills repurchased nearly 19 million shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $969 million. Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on GIS at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=General%20Mills&d=08-Jan-2015&s=GIS

Stock Performance

On the day of earnings release, December 17, 2014, shares in General Mills gained 2.07% to end the session at $52.19. The stock has moved both ways since then with gains outweighing losses so far. On the last close, Wednesday, January 07, 2014, the stock finished 2.11% higher at $53.12, after vacillating between $52.37 and $53.26. A total of 3.20 million shares were traded, which was above its three months average volume of 2.88 million shares. Over the previous three trading sessions and over the last three months, General Mills' shares have advanced 0.02% and 5.86%, respectively. Further, the stock has gained 6.56% in the past one year. Shares in General Mills closed above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $52.35 and $52.44, respectively. Furthermore, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 19.99 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 41.55.

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading

In the last one month, General Mills has reported 4 trading transactions by 2 insiders. On December 22, 2014, a total of 129,525 shares of the company have been purchased at an average price of $23.49 per share, for a total value of $3.04 million. On the same day, a total of 99,177 shares were disposed at an average price of $54.27 per share, for a total of $5.38 million. On December 22, 2014, Kendall J. Powell purchased 103,125 shares at $23.49 per share and sold 72,777 shares at $54.38 per share. On the stated day, Peter C. Erickson, Executive Vice President- Innovation, Technology and Quality at General Mills, also bought 26,400 shares at $23.49 per share and sold an equal number of shares at $53.96 per share. Complimentary in-depth research on GIS is available at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=General%20Mills&d=08-Jan-2015&s=GIS

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