The US food group General Mills (NYSE:GIS) reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on 23 September 2026, for the quarter ended 30 August. The headline figures show earnings per share down 67 percent and operating profit down 63 percent.
Neither reflects any deterioration in the business: both stem from the absence of the 1,046 million dollar gain on the sale of the US yogurt business booked a year earlier. Stripping out that base effect, adjusted earnings per share came in at 0.75 dollars, down 13 percent and ahead of the 0.72 dollar consensus. Net sales reached 4.39 billion dollars, flat on an organic basis.
Management reaffirmed its full-year targets in full, and the quarter was accounting-clean: just one cent separates reported from adjusted earnings, after a 3.71 dollar gap in the prior fiscal year.
Beneath the surface, the picture is more mixed. North America Retail, which generates 65 percent of segment operating profit, saw organic net sales fall 3 percent and its margin give up nearly two points. The Pet segment posted flat organic growth, but achieved it with seven points of price for six points of lost volume, in a category where private label and fresh brands are gaining ground in volume terms. Group-wide, organic volume declined another point, the fourth consecutive period of decline.
On the other side of the ledger, International grew 4 percent with six points of volume gained, and Foodservice lifted operating profit 12 percent. The company also suspended share repurchases entirely, against 500 million dollars a year earlier, a sign of renewed capital allocation discipline.
A reassuring quarter in the near term, which leaves the underlying question untouched: the return of volume.
Source: General Mills Reports Fiscal 2027 First-quarter Results and Reaffirms Full-year Outlook