Post Holdings’ Refrigerated Foods segment saw its net sales increase 29.3 percent on a year-over-year basis for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018.
The Refrigerated Foods segment includes the operations of egg products company Michael Foods.
In a press release that offers an overview of Post Holdings’ quarterly financial results where announced, the company also stated that its foodservice egg net sales increased 9.2 percent, driven by a 5.1 percent volume increase and increased market-based pricing.
For the company as a whole, net sales were $1.63 billion, an increase of 12.5 percent, or $181.4 million, compared to the prior year period. The company experienced a net loss of $15.6 million for the quarter, which is a 295 percent decrease when compared to the net earnings of $8 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017.
Egg-related capital expenditures expected for FY 2019
Post Holdings revealed in the press release that it expects fiscal year 2019 capital expenditures to range between $300-$310 million. Two of those capital expenditure projects involve the company’s egg operations.
The company expects to spend between $80 million and $85 million in relation to a new precooked egg facility in Norwalk, Iowa. That plant is expected to create between 100 and 150 jobs, according to an announcement made by the company in January.
Post Holdings stated that it also expects to spend about $30 million in fiscal year 2019 related to the cage-free housing conversion at its facility in Bloomfield, Nebraska. The company initially announced in 2016 that the cage-free transition would be made.
Michael Foods is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and is the largest supplier of processed eggs in the world. The company, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, had a flock of 12.18 million hens in 2017. Post Holdings acquired Michael Foods in 2014.
