Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013 - (Page 118)

Company Overview Post Holdings, Inc. Revitalizes its base and launching moves into other categories W hile Post brand breakfast cereals have been known to generations of American consumers, this profile is the first to bear the name Post in the Corporate Profiles series that has been published annually by Sosland Publishing Co. since 1988. It's not that Post brand cereals weren't mentioned prominently in previous publications, but they were subsidiary brands of other broader food businesses such as General Foods, Philip Morris, Kraft Foods and Ralcorp Holdings. This changed in February 2012, when Post was spun off by Ralcorp into a separate, independent company, Post Holdings of St. Louis. William P. Stiritz, chairman and chief executive officer, in the company's first annual report covering fiscal year 2012 ended Sept. 29, 2012, noted in recent years, the Post brands didn't receive the attention they required to grow. "We realized our brands needed attention - that despite their resiliency, they needed to be revitalized," he said. To support its brands, the company increased its advertising and marketing spending to $126.4 million in fiscal 2012 compared with $117.3 million in fiscal 2011 and $88.6 million in fiscal 2010. And in fiscal 2012, Post introduced a new value line, Good Morenings cereals, which featured a larger package size for cereals with family-friendly flavors at a lower price point. If fiscal 2012 was about revitalizing the Post Holdings' brand base, fiscal 2013 saw an assertive expansion into other food categories. In January 2013, Post Holdings acquired Attune Foods of San Francisco. Founded in 2006, Attune Foods makes Uncle Sam high-fiber cereals, Erewhon gluten-free cereals, Erewhon organic graham cracker and Attune chocolate probiotic bars. In May, Post acquired the branded and private label cereal, granola and snacks business of Hearthside Food Solutions, and on Sept. 1, the company acquired the branded food and beverage business of Premier Nutrition Corp., which markets food and beverage products under the Premier Protein and Joint Juice brands. In its most ambitious move to date, Post on Sept. 16 announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dakota Growers Pasta Company, Inc., Carrington, N.D., from Viterra, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore X strata P.L.C. Dakota Growers has a leadership position in the U.S. durum milling and pasta industries. It has a durum mill and pasta production capabilities in Carrington as well as a pasta plant in New Hope, Minn. The Dakota Growers business will be managed separately from other Post Holdings businesses by its existing management team. Post Holdings' net income during the first nine months of the 2013 fiscal year ended June 30 was $16.1 million, equal to 40c per share on the common stock, compared with $39.1 million, or $1.14 a share, in the first three quarters of fiscal 2012. Sales in the nine months totaled $742.4 million, up 4% from $711.7 million. Sales included $13.5 million from acquisitions. Excluding the acquisitions, Post Holdings net sales improved $17.2 million, or 2.4%, from the prior year on higher volumes but lower average net selling prices. CP Top brands - Chief executive officer - Fiscal year 2012 sales - William P. Stiritz 118 \ November 2013 $958.9 million Honey Bunches of Oats Pebbles Great Grains Post Shredded Wheat Post Raisin Bran Grape-Nuts Honeycomb Milling & Baking News * Food Business News * Baking & Snack * Meat & Poultry Attune Peace Cereal Sweet Home Farm Willamette Valley Premier Protein Joint Juice Corporate Profiles

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013

Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013