Post Holdings records 29% boost in profit for Q1 2025

USA – Post Holdings, an American consumer packaged goods holding company, has reported a 29% jump in its net income, totalling US$113.3M for the first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024.

The profit equals US$1.94 per share on the common stock, up from US$88.1M, or US$1.46 per share in the same period a year ago.

According to Post Holdings, the impressive results are attributed to a diversified portfolio, ranging from ready-to-eat cereal to egg and potato products and pet food.

This year’s results included a US$15.4M gain on swaps compared with a US$21.1M expense on swaps a year ago.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations, meanwhile, totalled US$111.9M, which compared with US$113.7M in the same period a year ago. Net sales in the quarter increased to US$1.974bn, up 0.4% from US$1.965bn.

The robust Q1 performance prompted Post to increase its full-year fiscal 2025 adjusted EBITDA to US$1.42bn – US$1.46bn, up from an earlier forecast of US$1.41bn – US$1.46bn.

Segment profit in the Post Consumer Brands business totaled US$131M, down 1.3% from US$132.7M a year ago. Net sales fell 2.5% to US$963.9M from US$988.6M.

Jeff A. Zadoks, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said both pet food and grocery had a strong quarter within the Post Consumer Brands unit.

“For grocery, we benefited from improved utilization due to our plant closure completed last September as well as freight efficiencies. For Pet, we benefited from improved cost and plant performance. From a volume standpoint, the cereal category declined 3.2%, slightly more than our planned assumptions” said Zadoks.

Segment profit increased in Post’s Foodservice unit, climbing 14% to US$86.1M from US$75.7M. Net sales also were higher in the segment, rising to US$616.6M from US$567.1M a year ago.

Zadoks said Foodservice results were strong, driven by continued volume growth, ongoing avian influenza pricing from the May 2024 outbreak and improved supply chain performance.

Segment profit in the Weetabix business was US$15.9M, down 24% from US$21M. Sales also were lower, falling to US$127.6M from US$129.1M.

In the Refrigerated Retail segment, profit fell 32% to US$24.2M from US$35.6M while sales dipped 5.1% to US$266.6M.

Moving forward, Post said it expects fiscal 2025 capital expenditures to range between US$380M to US$420M, including Post Consumer Brands investment in network optimization and pet food safety and capacity, for aggregate expenditures of US$90M to US$100M.

The outlook also includes a Foodservice investment of US$80M to US$90M related to the completion of a Norwalk, Iowa, precooked egg facility expansion and continued cage-free egg facility expansion.

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