General Mills Raises Fiscal 2010 Guidance

General Mills posted better-than- expected third-quarter earnings and raised its guidance for the fiscal year.

Author:: Andrea Tse
Publish date:: Mar 24, 2010 7:27 AM EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (

) --

General Mills

posted better-than expected third-quarter earnings and raised its guidance for the fiscal year.

Generals Mills increased its fiscal 2010 earnings guidance to $4.57 to $4.59 a share, compared with the Street expectation of $4.60 a share. Previously, the company's guidance had been $4.52 to $4.57 a share.

General Mills reported double-digit earnings growth to 96 cents a share in the third quarter. Excluding one-off items, earnings rose 23% to 97 cents a share, exceeding the Wall Street consensus estimate of 93 cents a share.

Net sales increased 3% to $3.63 billion, compared with Wall Street's expectation of $3.62 billion, as the company made significant marketing reinvestment in its brands.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

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