Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013 - (Page 126)

Company Overview TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Private label leader makes push into beverages T reeHouse Foods, Inc., Oak Brook, Ill., will continue to search for private label acquisitions. This year an acquisition made a splash in the tea category, and more TreeHouse beverage plans are possible next year. "We are now three times the size that we were when the company first started, and most of this growth has been driven by M.&A., and in its aftermath, a combination of distribution gains through our broad North American continental network and then internally through productivity and synergies to make these not only bigger but better businesses," said Sam K. Reed, president and chief executive officer, at a Barclays Back-to-School Conference held Sept. 4 in Boston. On July 1 TreeHouse Foods took over a business that makes shelf stable mayonnaise, dressings and sauces. Privatelyowned Cain Food s, L.P., Ayer, Mass., has about $80 million in annual revenue. "It's a mayonnaise business, and it really ties in nicely with the rest of our shelf stable salad dressings and fits kind of a void we had in terms of a very strong pour-ables business with salad dressing but not a very strong business in what is referred to as spoonable," said Dennis Riordan, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, at the Barclay's Back-to-School Conference. The tea acquisition came on Aug. 8. TreeHouse Foods entered into an agreement with TorQuest Partners L.L.C. and other shareholders to acquire Associated Brands GP Corp., a private label manufacturer of powdered drinks, specialty teas and sweeteners, for C$187 million (about $180 million). The acquisition will give TreeHouse a line of specialty tea products to complement its single-serve coffee business. Associated Brands, based in Mississauga, Ont., operates three production plants in Delta, B.C., Medina, N.Y., and Toronto. The company had sales of about $200 million for the year ended June 30. The transaction will have a neutral effect on TreeHouse's 2013 earnings, but it will add about 14c to 16c in earnings per share in the 2014 fiscal year. More beverage activity should come in 2014. "Over the last year or so, we have seen a shift in the marketplace from powdered Chief executive officer - beverages to liquid enhancers," Mr. Riordan said Sept. 4. "We are ready to respond. We have new products in the marketplace, and I think you are going to see a real push next year as we expand our platform of beverages to include a variety of liquid beverage enhancers as well." For the six months ended June 30, TreeHouse Foods had net income of $41,539,000, or $1.11 per share, which compared with $41,585,000, or $1.12 per share, in the same time period of the previous year. Six-month sales were $1,066,456,000, up from $1,051,232,000. The company expected earnings per share of $3.07 to $3.12 for the year. TreeHouse Foods has three reportable segments, and all three had increased income for the six months ended June 30. North American Retail Grocery had direct operating income of $126.4 million, up from $116.5 million in the same time period of the previous year. Food Away From Home had direct operating income of $22.9 million, up from $20.3 million, and Industrial and Export had direct operating income of $25.9 million, up from $19.3 million. CP Top brands - Private label brands 2012 global sales - Sam K. Reed 126 \ November 2013 $2.2 billion Milling & Baking News * Food Business News * Baking & Snack * Meat & Poultry Corporate Profiles

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

Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013