DALLAS, Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dean Foods Company today reported third quarter 2015 results.
Highlights
- Q3 net income per diluted share was $0.22 and adjusted net income per diluted share was $0.30.
- Q3 adjusted results reflect the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year improved results behind solid execution and price realization.
- Dairy category improves and DairyPure®, the first and largest fresh, white milk national brand, supports commercial performance.
- Repurchased approximately $53 million of Dean Foods common stock, or approximately 3.2 million shares, at an average purchase price of $16.73 per share.
- Q4 adjusted diluted earnings are expected to be $0.28 to $0.38 per share.
Chief Executive Officer Gregg Tanner said, "I'm very pleased with our third quarter results that demonstrate we are driving the right initiatives and agenda. We view our portfolio of brands, especially with our national brands of DairyPure in fresh white milk and TruMoo in flavored milk, as a competitive advantage that complements our customer set and leverages the national scale of our network and one of the nation's largest best-in-class refrigerated direct store delivery distribution systems. DairyPure has provided our sales organization with a strong selling story and value proposition to present to our customers while concurrently allowing us to effect the successful go-to-market strategy for our national brands this year. We believe the strong health and wellness credentials in dairy products, and especially in fresh milk, resonate with consumers. All together, we believe this is a great business to be in and one that creates a compelling operating and financial opportunity." The third quarter 2015 average Class I Mover, a measure of raw milk costs, was $16.38 per hundred-weight, a 4% sequential increase from the second quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 30% from the third quarter of 2014. The Company expects the fourth quarter 2015 average Class I Mover to approximate $16.22 which represents about a 1% decline sequentially and a 31% decline year-over-year. Total volume across all products was 658 million gallons for the third quarter of 2015, a 2% decline compared to total volume of 673 million gallons in the third quarter of 2014. For the fourth quarter 2015, as compared to the prior year period, the Company expects total volumes to decline in the low single digits.
Based on the USDA's recently published category data, fluid milk volumes improved sequentially from a 2.2% decline in the first quarter to a 1.3% decline in the second quarter. Quarter-to-date through August 2015, fluid milk volumes declined approximately 0.9% year-over-year, on an unadjusted basis. On this same basis, Dean Foods' share of U.S. fluid milk volumes increased 10 basis points sequentially to 35.3% but decreased from 35.9% in the third quarter of 2014.
Tanner added, "The health of the dairy category is probably as good as it's been in my career at Dean Foods and, among other things, lower-priced milk in terms of both cost and prices at retail is helping support that. Likewise, when you look at our financials, there's clearly more driving our improved results than just the benefit of cheaper milk. As industry leaders, we are executing both a focused commercial agenda and a robust cost productivity agenda. And going forward, we believe there are significant opportunities to build strong brands, while focusing on our cost structure and growing our business across multiple channels, in order to continue to improve our financial results." Full report.
