Del Monte Corporation Reports Fiscal 2013 Second Quarter Results

Del Monte Corporation Reports Fiscal 2013 Second Quarter Results

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Del Monte Corporation:

Announcement Highlights

For the second quarter fiscal 2013:

• Net sales increased 1.5%

  • Pet Products sales increased 5.8% due to new product volumes and list pricing actions net of trade spend

  • Consumer Products sales decreased 2.3% due to existing product unit volume declines

• Operating income declined 1.8%

• Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 1.1%

• Total net debt was $3,737.0 million as of October 28, 2012

¹ Reflects "EBITDA" and "Consolidated EBITDA" as calculated pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements, respectively. Please refer to the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures located at the end of this press release.

Del Monte Foods Three Months Ended October 28, 2012

Del Monte Foods today reported net sales in the second quarter fiscal 2013 of $1,009.7 million compared to $994.3 million in the second quarter fiscal 2012, an increase of 1.5%. Pet new product volumes and list pricing actions net of trade spend drove the increase. Existing product declines in both Pet and Consumer partially offset the increase.

Operating income declined 1.8% from $107.1 million in the prior year period to $105.2 million. The decrease was primarily driven by increased marketing and operating costs. This was partially offset by list pricing actions net of trade spend and lower G&A.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 1.1% to $160.7 million compared to $158.9 million in the prior year period. The drivers of Adjusted EBITDA were similar to those of operating income noted above. In addition, the cash impact of hedging activity drove the increase in Adjusted EBITDA. Gains and losses on economic hedging positions are recorded as other (income) expense. For cash flow hedges, the effective portion of gains and losses is deferred in equity and recognized as part of cost of products sold in the appropriate period. The cash impact of all hedging activities is reflected in Corporate Adjusted EBITDA. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the adjustment for cash benefits from economic hedge positions is calculated pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements.

"The Company remains committed to long-term brand building in both Pet and Consumer," said Dave West, CEO of Del Monte Foods. "In November, the Company launched a national integrated marketing campaign to support theiconic Del Monte brand, highlighting the brand's vitality and nutritional appeal. Also, we continue to support new Pet Products such as Meow Mix Tender Centers, Pup-Peroni Mix-Stix, and Milo's Kitchen Chicken Grillers Chicken Recipe through increased marketing investment."

Reportable Segments - Results for Three Months Ended October 28, 2012

Pet Products

Pet Products net sales were $497.0 million, an increase of 5.8% from net sales of $469.6 million in the prior year period. The increase in Pet Products net sales was driven by new product volume growth, primarily in dry cat food and pet snacks. List pricing actions net of trade spend also positively contributed to net sales.

Pet Products operating income increased 3.4% from $79.5 million in the second quarter fiscal 2012 to $82.2 million in the second quarter fiscal 2013. The increase was primarily due to list pricing actions net of trade spend partially offset by higher marketing and operating costs.

Pet Products Adjusted EBITDA declined from $100.5 million in the second quarter fiscal 2012 to $99.9 million in the second quarter fiscal 2013, or 0.6%.

Consumer Products

Consumer Products net sales were $512.7 million, a decline of 2.3% from net sales of $524.7 million in the prior year period. The decline in Consumer Products net sales was driven by unit volume declines in existing products (retail Tomato) due to a planned shift in promotional activities and category softness.

Consumer Products operating income declined 18.0% from $51.6 million in the second quarter fiscal 2012 to $42.3 million in the second quarter fiscal 2013. The decline was primarily driven by the negative impact of the topline and higher marketing costs to support the Del Monte brand revitalization.

Consumer Products Adjusted EBITDA declined from $70.7 million in the second quarter fiscal 2012 to $56.1 million in the second quarter fiscal 2013, or 20.7%. The drivers of the decline were similar to those of operating income noted above.

Del Monte Foods Six Months Ended October 28, 2012

Net sales for the six months ended October 28, 2012 were $1,830.8 million compared to $1,770.5 million for the prior year period, an increase of 3.4%. The increase was driven by new products volume growth in Pet and list pricing actions net of trade spend.

Operating income declined from $156.4 million in the prior year period to $151.0 million, or 3.5%. The decline was primarily driven by increased marketing and operating costs. List pricing actions net of trade spend and lower G&A contributed positively to operating income.

Other income of $30.7 million for the six months ended October 28, 2012 was comprised primarily of gains on commodity hedging contracts, partially offset by losses on interest rate swaps. The gains on commodity hedging contracts recorded in the period, the cash portion of which are reflected in Corporate Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset both ingredient cost increases seen in cost of products sold and ingredient cost increases that we expect to see in future quarters.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 5.5% to $274.3 million compared to $260.1 million in the prior year period. Cash benefits from economic hedge positions are reflected in Corporate Adjusted EBITDA as noted above. List pricing actions net of trade spend partially offset by increased marketing and operating costs, contributed to the increase. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the adjustment for cash benefits from economic hedge positions is calculated pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements.

Select Liquidity Data

At October 28, 2012, total debt was $3,893.3 million and cash and cash equivalents were $156.3 million. As of October 28, 2012, there were no outstanding borrowings under the Company's $750.0 million ABL Facility. For the six months ended October 28, 2012, capital expenditures totaled $42.2 million. The Company also spent $12.0 million for the acquisition of the SnoKist assets.

Free Cash Flow² for the six months ended October 28, 2012 was $(133.7) million, compared to $(90.5) million in the prior year period. The decline was primarily due to higher working capital (inventories) and capital expenditures. Higher Adjusted EBITDA partially offset the decline.

² Free Cash Flow is defined as Adjusted EBITDA less cash interest, cash taxes (net of refunds), normal capital expenditures and plus/less decrease/increase in working capital (excluding the impact of the Merger). Accordingly, this excludes, among other things, $44.0 million related to tax refunds for the six months ended October 30, 2011. Please refer to the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures located at the end of this press release.

Conference Call/Webcast Information

Del Monte Foods will host a live audio webcast, accompanied by a slide presentation, to discuss the second quarter fiscal 2013 results at 8:00 a.m. PT (11:00 a.m. ET) today. To access the live webcast and slides, go to http://investors.delmonte.com. Under Events, click Q2 F13 Del Monte Foods Earnings Conference Call. Printable slides are expected to be available in advance of the call. Historical quarterly results can be accessed at http://investors.delmonte.com. The audio portion of the webcast may also be accessed during the call (listen-only mode) as follows: 1-888-788-9432 (1-210-795-9068 outside the U.S. and Canada), verbal code: Del Monte Foods. The webcast and slide presentation will be available online following the presentation.

Merger

On March 8, 2011, Del Monte Foods Company was acquired by an investor group led by funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Capital, L.P. (collectively, the "Sponsors"). The acquisition is referred to as the "Merger."

About Del Monte Foods

Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketers of premium quality, branded pet products and food products for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $3.7 billion in net sales in fiscal 2012. With a powerful portfolio of brands, Del Monte products are found in eight out of ten U.S. households. Pet food and pet snacks brands include Meow Mix^®, Kibbles 'n Bits^®, Milk-Bone^®, 9Lives^®, Pup-Peroni^®, Gravy Train^®, Nature's Recipe^®, Canine Carry Outs^®,Milo's Kitchen^®and other brand names. Food product brands include Del Monte^®, Contadina^®, S&W^®, College Inn^®and other brand names. The Company also produces and distributes private label pet products and food products.

For more information on Del Monte Foods, visit the Company's website at www.delmontefoods.com.

Del Monte. Nourishing Families. Enriching Lives. Every Day.^®

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Del Monte Corporation reports its financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). In this press release and the accompanying webcast, Del Monte is also providing certain non-GAAP financial measures - specifically, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Free Cash Flow and Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA.

Del Monte presents Adjusted EBITDA because it believes that this is an important supplemental measure relating to its financial condition since it is used in certain covenant calculations that may be required from time to time under the indenture that governs its 7.625% Senior Notes due 2019 (referred to therein as "EBITDA") and the credit agreements relating to its Term Loan Facility and ABL Facility (referred to therein as "Consolidated EBITDA"). EBITDA is defined as income before interest expense, provision for income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA, further adjusted as required by the definitions of "EBITDA" and "Consolidated EBITDA" contained in the Company's indenture and credit agreements. Although Adjusted EBITDA may be useful to benchmark our performance period to period, Del Monte's presentation of Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool. Adjusted EBITDA is not a GAAP measure of liquidity or profitability and should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of cash flow available for discretionary expenditures, as it does not take into account debt service requirements, obligations under the monitoring agreement with Del Monte's Sponsors, capital expenditures or other non-discretionary expenditures that are not deducted from the measure.

Del Monte presents Adjusted EBITDA Margin because it uses such measure internally to focus management on year-over-year changes in the Company's business and believes this information is also helpful to investors. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA Margin, the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA because it believes its investors are familiar with Adjusted EBITDA and that consistency in the presentation of EBITDA-related measures is helpful to investors.

Del Monte presents Free Cash Flow because it uses such measure internally to benchmark its performance period-to-period and believes this information is also helpful to investors. This presentation of Free Cash Flow has limitations as an analytical tool. Free Cash Flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures, since it does not take into account debt service requirements or other non-discretionary expenditures that are not deducted from the measure.

Del Monte uses Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratios internally to focus management on year-over-year changes in the Company's leverage and believes this information is also helpful to investors. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA in this leverage measure because it believes its investors are familiar with Adjusted EBITDA and that consistency in presentation of EBITDA-related measures is helpful to investors.

Del Monte cautions investors that the non-GAAP financial measures presented are intended to supplement its GAAP results and are not a substitute for such results. Additionally, Del Monte cautions investors that the non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.