Flowers Foods' fourth-quarter and full-year sales nudge down

Thomasville, GA-based Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO) last week reported fourth-quarter earnings of $39.3 million. The packaged baked goods company reported a profit of 18¢ a share and earnings of 20¢ per share, after adjusting for non-recurring costs.

The 2021 fourth quarter and year for Flowers Foods, owner of such popular brands as Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs. Freshely's and Tastykake, ended Jan. 1.

Fiscal 2021 summary

Compared to the prior year where applicable

• Sales decreased 1.3% to $4.331 billion. Excluding the additional week in the prior year, sales increased 0.4%.
• Net income increased 35.4% to $206.2 million. Adjusted net income decreased 5.3% to $263.1 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5.9% to $490.9 million, representing 11.3% of sales, a 60-basis point decrease.
• Diluted EPS increased $0.25 to $0.97. Adjusted diluted EPS decreased $0.07 to $1.24. The impact of the additional week in the prior year was $0.02.

Q4 summary

Compared to the prior year fourth quarter where applicable

• Sales decreased 3.9% to $983.5 million. Excluding the additional week in the prior year period, sales increased 3.8%.
• Net income decreased 29.6% to $39.3 million. Adjusted net income decreased 29.1% to $41.9 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased 21.9% to $88.7 million, representing 9.0% of sales, a 210-basis point decrease.
• Diluted EPS decreased $0.08 to $0.18. Adjusted diluted EPS decreased $0.08 to $0.20. The impact of the additional week in the prior year period was $0.02.

"Flowers' strong financial results in a year of unique challenges demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy and the resiliency of our team," said president and chief executive Ryals McMullian, "Our leading brands continue to gain market share, and we are focused on improving efficiencies through programs like our digital transformation initiative. We expect these programs, along with increased pricing that we implemented in January 2022, to offset the inflationary impact that we experienced in the fourth quarter."

For its fiscal 2022 outlook, McMullian expects that investments in innovation and marketing, price increases and a continued emphasis on efficiencies will drive sales and earnings growth. The company expects 2022 sales in the range between $4.6 billion to $4.7 billion, an increase of about 7.6% to 8.4%, compared with the prior year period.