General Mills reaffirms full-year sales, profit forecasts

In this file photo, a box of General Mills' Cheerios is seen on a shelf at a Shaw's Supermarket in Gloucester, Mass. (AP/Lisa Poole)

General Mills reaffirmed its annual sales and profit forecast on Wednesday after slashing it last month, as pressure on consumer spending and stiff competition muted demand for the Cheerios maker’s pantry staples and snacks.

Rising cost of living steered cash-strapped consumers to shift toward cheaper private-label brands and store-label products, weighing on sales of companies that have been leaning on price hikes.

Broad inflationary pressure, and added uncertainty from the Iran war is also squeezing consumer spending, dragging on sales of packaged food makers, who are already facing the brunt of change in dietary preferences toward healthier foods, accelerated by fast adoption of GLP-1 weight‑loss drugs.

The company reaffirmed its annual targets of adjusted profit declining 16 per cent to 20 per cent and organic sales to fall 1.5 per cent to two per cent.

It posted third-quarter sales of $4.44 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $4.42 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Koyena Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)