Research Desk Line-up: Snyder's-Lance Post Earnings Coverage

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 6, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily publishes post-earnings coverage on Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) following the Company's disclosure of its first quarter fiscal 2017 financial results on May 17, 2017. The bakery goods Company reported a 3.6% gain in EPS and also updated its outlook. Our daily stock reports are accessible for free, and with those to look forward today you also will be signing up for a complimentary member's account at:

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Get more of our free earnings reports coverage from other constituents of the Processed & Packaged Goods industry. Pro-TD has currently selected Snyder's-Lance, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNCE) for due-diligence and potential coverage as the Company reported on May 08, 2017, its financial results for Q1 2017 which ended on April 01, 2017 and also reaffirmed its recently revised 2017 full-year outlook. Register for a free membership today, and be among the early birds that get access to our report on Snyder's-Lance when we publish it.

At Pro-TD, we make it our mission to bring you news that matter about the stock you follow. Today, our research desk covers a blog story on FLO; also brushing on LNCE. With the links below you can directly download the report of your stock of interest free of charge at:

http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=FLO

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Earnings Reviewed

For the 16 week period ended April 22, 2017, Flowers Foods' net sales totaled $1.19 billion, down 1.4% compared to sales of $1.20 billion for the 16 week period ended April 23, 2016. Excluding a divestiture, sales decreased 0.9%. The Company's revenue numbers fell short of analysts' consensus of $1.21 billion.

During Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' branded retail sales decreased 1.0% to $693.6 million, driven by price/mix declines in soft variety bread and volume declines in cake and other branded retail products. The Company's store branded retail sales increased 0.5% to $172.0 million, primarily attributable to volume increases for variety bread and buns and rolls. Flowers Foods' non-retail and other sales decreased 3.2% to $322.0 million, which was impacted by the mix of manufacturing business divestiture, as well as decreases in volume.

For Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' operating income grew 5.2% on a y-o-y basis to $100.1 million. Excluding matters affecting comparability, the Company's operating income decreased 8.1% to $87.5 million. Flowers Foods' adjusted EBITDA decreased 4.2% to $132.8 million for Q1 2017, or 11.2% of sales, a 30 basis point decline.

In Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' net income increased 1.8% to $60.4 million, while diluted EPS increased 3.6% to $0.29. Excluding matters affecting comparability, net income decreased 11.3% to $52.6 million, while adjusted diluted EPS decreased 10.7% to $0.25. The earnings results missed Wall Street's expectations of $0.26 per share.

Segment Summary

During Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' DSD segment's sales grew marginally by 0.1% to $999.9 million as a 0.3% gain sales attributed to pricing/mix was offset by a 0.2% drop in volume. For the reported quarter, DSD segment's branded retail sales increased 0.6% to $646.1 million. DSD's store branded retail sales increased 3.4% to $137.5 million, driven by volume gains in variety bread and buns and rolls.

For Q1 2017, DSD's operating income decreased 5.0% to $87.4 million. Excluding net lease termination costs of $0.6 million and a legal settlement of $0.25 million, operating income decreased 4.1% to $88.2 million. The segment's adjusted EBITDA decreased 1.2% on a y-o-y basis to $127.4 million, or 12.7% of sales, a 20 basis point decline.

During Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' Warehouse segment sales decreased 8.6% to $187.8 million. The decline was attributed to decreased sales of snack cakes and Alpine Valley branded organic breads, and the impact of the mix manufacturing business divestiture.

For Q1 2017, Warehouse segment's branded retail sales declined 18.6% to $47.5 million, driven by volume declines in cake and organic bread store. The segment's branded retail sales decreased 9.8% to $34.5 million, while non-retail and other sales decreased 2.7% to $105.8 million mainly due to volume decreases in cake.

For Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' Warehouse segments operating income increased 138.5% to $44.7 million. Excluding the gain on divestiture, operating income decreased 15.6% to $15.8 million. The segment's adjusted EBITDA decreased 11.5% to $22.1 million, or 11.8% of sales, reflecting a 40 basis point decline compared to the year ago same period.

Cash Flow, Dividends, Share Repurchases, and Capital Allocation

In Q1 2017, Flowers Foods' cash flow from operating activities was $76.0 million, capital expenditures were $17.5 million, and dividends paid were $33.9 million. During the reported quarter, the Company made net payments on debt borrowings of $64.0 million. Net proceeds from the sale of the mix business were $41.2 million.

During Q1 2017, Flowers Foods repurchased 0.1 million shares of its common stock in connection with the vesting of performance share awards. There are 6.7 million shares remaining on the Company's current share repurchase authorization.

On May 25, 2017, Flowers Foods announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, an increase of 6.3% over the same quarter last year. This is the 59th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the Company and is payable on June 23, 2017, to shareholders of record on June 09, 2017. This action increases the annualized dividend rate to $0.68 per share from $0.64 per share at this time last year.

Outlook

For FY17, Flowers Foods now expects sales to trend to the lower end of the previously provided range of $3.927 billion to $4.006 billion, representing growth of approximately 0.0% to 2.0%. The Company is now expecting adjusted diluted to be in the middle of the previously provided range of $0.85 to $0.95, excluding the gain on the sale of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa mix plant of $0.09 per share, and costs associated with Project Centennial of approximately $0.07 to $0.09 per share.

Stock Performance

Flowers Foods' share price finished yesterday's trading session at $18.68, marginally falling 0.11%. A total volume of 864.80 thousand shares exchanged hands. In the last six months, shares of the Company have surged 21.93%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 23.74 and has a dividend yield of 3.64%. The stock currently has a market cap of $3.94 billion.

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