Del Monte Corporation Reports Fiscal 2013 Third Quarter Results

Del Monte Corporation Reports Fiscal 2013 Third Quarter Results

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

Announcement Highlights

For the third quarter fiscal 2013:

• Net sales increased 5.9%

  • Pet Products sales increased 10.1% and Consumer Products sales increased 1.8%

• Operating income declined 12.5%

  • Increased marketing investment, higher ingredient costs and costs associated with the voluntary recall ofcertain Milo's Kitchen chicken dog treats drove the decline

  • List pricing actions net of trade spend partially offset the decrease

• Adjusted EBITDA¹ declined 1.6%

• Total net debt was $3,544.6 million as of January 27, 2013

• On February 5, 2013, amended the $2.6 billion Senior Secured Term Loan Credit Agreement

  • Lowered LIBOR rate floor on Term Loan from 1.50% to 1.00%

  • Increased aggregate principal outstanding by $100.0 million

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 January 27, 2013

Del Monte Foods today reported net sales in the third quarter fiscal 2013 of $1,028.2 million compared to $971.1 million in the third quarter fiscal 2012, an increase of 5.9%. List pricing actions net of trade spend along with new product volumes primarily in Pet drove the increase. Existing product declines in Consumer partially offset the increase.

Operating income declined 12.5% from $124.5 million in the prior year period to $108.9 million. The decrease was driven by increased marketing investment, higher ingredient costs in Pet, and $14.4 million of costs associated with the voluntary recall of certain Milo's Kitchen chicken dog treat products. List pricing actions net of trade spend partially offset the decline.

Adjusted EBITDA declined 1.6% to $161.9 million compared to $164.6 million in the prior year period. The drivers of the decline were similar to those of operating income, except for the costs associated with the voluntary recall mentioned above. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the expenses associated with the voluntary recall were added back pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements.

"Strong price realization and new product innovation drove the Company's topline growth of 5.9%, as sales for both Pet and Consumer increased," said Dave West, CEO of Del Monte Foods. "Our momentum in Pet was strong ─ net sales grew 10.1% and Adjusted EBITDA grew 5.6% ─ while we increased marketing investment and faced higher ingredient costs. In Consumer, we began national advertising behind the Del Monte brand, fueling this investment with planned lower trade spending. I am optimistic that these investments and initiatives will drive long-term success in the marketplace. We are continuing to become a more consumer-centric and market-driven Company."

Reportable Segments - Results for Three Months Ended January 27, 2013

Pet Products

Pet Products net sales were $527.0 million, an increase of 10.1% from net sales of $478.8 million in the prior year period. The increase in Pet Products net sales was driven by list pricing actions net of trade spend and new product volume.

Pet Products operating income declined 8.6% from $95.3 million in the prior year period to $87.1 million in the third quarter fiscal 2013. The decline was primarily driven by higher ingredient costs, costs associated with the voluntary recall noted previously and increased marketing investment. We realized positive list pricing actions net of trade spend as well as the positive impact of increased volume.

Pet Products Adjusted EBITDA increased 5.6% from $117.2 million in the prior year period to $123.8 million in the third quarter fiscal 2013. The drivers of the change in Adjusted EBITDA were similar to those of operating income, except for the costs associated with the voluntary recall mentioned above. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the expenses associated with the voluntary recall were added back pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements.

Consumer Products

Consumer Products net sales were $501.2 million, an increase of 1.8% from net sales of $492.3 million in the prior year period. The increase in Consumer Products net sales was driven by planned lower trade spending. Unit volume declines, mainly in vegetable and produce, partially offset the increase.

Consumer Products operating income declined 20.8% from $40.8 million in the prior year period to $32.3 million in the third quarter fiscal 2013. The decline was primarily driven by higher marketing investment and unfavorable mix. This was partially offset by planned lower trade spending, which was consistent with our long-term strategy of increased marketing investment behind the Del Monte brand.

Consumer Products Adjusted EBITDA declined from $57.1 million in the prior year period to $50.1 million in the third quarter fiscal 2013, or 12.3%. The drivers of the decline were similar to those of operating income noted above.

Del Monte Foods Nine Months Ended January 27, 2013

Net sales for the nine months ended January 27, 2013 were $2,859.0 million compared to $2,741.6 million for the prior year period, an increase of 4.3%. The increase was driven by list pricing actions net of trade spend and new product volume growth, primarily in Pet. The increase was partially offset by unit volume declines in Consumer.

Operating income declined from $280.9 million in the prior year period to $259.9 million, or 7.5%. The decline was primarily driven by increased operating costs and higher marketing investment. List pricing actions net of trade spend contributed positively to operating income.

Other income of $24.2 million for the nine months ended January 27, 2013 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 2.7% to $436.2 million compared to $424.7 million in the prior year period. The drivers of the change in Adjusted EBITDA were similar to those of operating income, except for the costs associated with the voluntary recall mentioned above. In calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the expenses associated with the voluntary recall were added back pursuant to the Company's 7.625% Notes Indenture and credit agreements. In addition, cash benefits from economic hedge positions are reflected in Corporate Adjusted EBITDA as noted above. 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, respectively.

Select Liquidity Data

At January 27, 2013, total debt was $3,893.4 million and cash and cash equivalents were $348.8 million. As of January 27, 2013, there were no outstanding borrowings under the Company's $750.0 million ABL Facility. For the nine months ended January 27, 2013, capital expenditures totaled $62.7 million. The Company also spent $12.0 million for the acquisition of the SnoKist assets.

On February 5, 2013, the Company entered into an amendment to the Senior Secured Term Loan Credit Agreement. The amendment, among other things, lowered the LIBOR rate floor on the term loan under the credit agreement from 1.50% to 1.00%. The amendment also provided for an increase of $100.0 million in the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding term loan.

Free Cash Flow² for the nine months ended January 27, 2013 was $64.7 million, compared to $126.5 million in the prior year period. Higher working capital (mainly due to trade receivables) and higher capital expenditures primarily drove the decrease.

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 nine months ended January 29, 2012. 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 third 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 Q3 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.