Consumer packaged goods company Post Holdings Inc. beat expectations for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, and revised its guidance for fiscal 2018 ending Sept. 30.
For its first fiscal quarter 2018, the consumer packaged goods company reported adjusted net earnings of $67.9 million. This yielded an adjusted diluted EPS of 88 cents for the first quarter, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate of 81 cents for the period.
The company also reported net sales of $1.43 billion, a 14.7% growth year over year. The operating profit increased 115.9% year over year to $164.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA grew 22.4% to $281.6 million.
For fiscal 2018, Post Holdings expects its EBITDA to fall in the range of $1.22 billion to $1.25 billion, inclusive of recently acquired Bob Evans Farms Inc. The adjustment is an increase from its previous guidance range of $1.14 billion to $1.18 billion, excluding the then-pending purchase of the food distributor.
As a result of its acquisition of Bob Evans and Weetabix Ltd., Post said it expects to incur nearly $30 million in integration costs for 2018, an increase from its initial expectation of about $25 million.
The company also upped its FY'18 capital expenditures guidance to a range between $235 billion and $245 million, from the range of $220 million to $230 million that it posted the previous quarter. In addition, it announced that due to the recent tax reform, it expects its full-year tax to drop by nearly $30 million to $35 million.
