Attached files

file filename
8-K - FORM 8-K - Pinnacle Foods Finance LLCd8k.htm

Exhibit 99.1

LOGO

Earnings Release

 

Contact:    Craig Steeneck
   973-541-6622

Pinnacle Foods Finance LLC

Reports Fiscal 2011 First Quarter Results

Mountain Lakes, NJ May 11, 2011—Pinnacle Foods Finance LLC announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 27, 2011. Net sales were $606 million compared to $656 million in last year’s first quarter. Net earnings were $20 million compared to $4 million in the first quarter of last year.

Pinnacle’s Chief Executive Officer, Bob Gamgort said, “We are pleased with our start in 2011. First quarter performance was consistent with our internal expectations which took into account the impact of the shift in the timing of Easter on our sales. We launched our new product introductions in the first quarter to enable greater sales realization during the year. Excluding those new distribution investments, we expanded gross margin during the quarter by initiating pricing actions and increasing our productivity to offset higher input costs.”

First Quarter 2011

Net sales were $606 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to $656 million in last year’s first quarter, an 8% decline. Net sales in our North American retail businesses were down 5%, excluding the impact of the exited Birds Eye® Steamfresh® meals and U. S. Swanson® meals businesses, as well as higher new distribution expense associated with the earlier launch of our innovative new products (January versus July). Our new offerings include expanded varieties of Birds Eye® Steamfresh® vegetables, Birds Eye® Voila!® complete bagged meals, and Hungry-Man® frozen dinners, as well as the introduction of Swanson® Skillet meals in Canada. First quarter sales were negatively impacted by the timing of the Easter holiday which occurred 3 weeks later in 2011. However, we experienced strong growth in syrups, frozen pizza and canned meat and chili.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were $85 million in the first quarter of 2011, up from $62 million a year ago. Excluding last year’s impact of Birds Eye acquisition related items, including the step up of inventories ($17 million), termination benefits ($9 million) and integration costs ($3 million), EBIT declined $6 million, or 7%, reflecting the net sales decline as well as higher commodity costs, partially offset by improved productivity and pricing.

We initiated pricing actions during the first quarter in several categories to offset higher input cost inflation. While we received some benefit in the first quarter, we expect the primary impact will be realized in the balance of the fiscal year.

Earnings were positively impacted by lower interest expense, the result of last year’s strong cash flow which allowed us to make a voluntary bank debt prepayment of $73 million in December 2010 and lower interest rates from our refinancing in August 2010. This year’s tax rate was 39.6%. Net cash provided by operating activities in the first quarter of 2011 continued to be strong at $78 million.

Consolidated EBITDA, as defined in our borrowing agreements, was $107 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to $127 million in the first quarter of 2010, mainly due to adjustments in the year ago period for the exit of the Birds Eye® Steamfresh® meals business and synergies yet to be realized. Consolidated EBITDA is defined below under “Non-GAAP Financial Matters”.

 

 

1


Conference Call Information

We will hold a conference call on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 2:00PM (ET) to discuss results for the quarter ended March 27, 2011.

To access the call, you can dial (866) 244-4530 and reference conference name: Pinnacle Foods Q1 Earnings Call. A replay of the call will be available beginning May 12, 2011 at 5:30 PM (ET) until May 25, 2011 by dialing 1-888-266-2081 and referencing Access Code 1529875.

About Pinnacle Foods Finance LLC

Millions of times a day in more than 85% of American households, consumers reach for Pinnacle Foods brands. We are a leading producer, marketer and distributor of high-quality branded food products, which have been trusted household names for decades. Headquartered in Mountain Lakes, NJ, our approximately $2.5 billion business employs more than 4,500 people in 21 sites around North America. We are a leader in the shelf stable and frozen foods segments and our brands hold the #1 or #2 market position in 8 out of 12 major category segments in which they compete. Our Duncan Hines Grocery Division manages brands such as Duncan Hines® baking mixes and frostings, Vlasic® pickles, peppers, and relish, Mrs. Butterworth’s® and Log Cabin® syrups, Armour® canned meats, Nalley® and Brooks® chili and chili ingredients, and Open Pit® barbecue sauces. Our Birds Eye Frozen Division brands consist primarily of Birds Eye® vegetables, Birds Eye Steamfresh® vegetables, Birds Eye Viola!® meals, C&W® vegetables and McKenzie’s® vegetables, Freshlike® vegetables, Aunt Jemima® frozen breakfasts, Swanson® and Hungry-Man® dinners and entrees, Van de Kamp’s® and Mrs. Paul’s® seafood, Lender’s® bagels and Celeste® frozen pizza. Our Specialty Food group manages Tim’s Cascade Snacks®, Snyder of Berlin® and Husman’s®. Further information is available at www.pinnaclefoods.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain statements that predict or forecast future events or results, depend on future events for their accuracy or otherwise contain “forward-looking information.” The words “estimates,” “expects,” “contemplates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “may,” “should,” and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and various assumptions and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various factors, some of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to: general economic and business conditions, deterioration of the credit and capital markets, industry trends, our substantial leverage and changes in our leverage, interest rate changes, changes in our ownership structure, competition, the loss of any of our major customers or suppliers, changes in demand for our products, changes in distribution channels or competitive conditions in the markets where we operate, costs of integrating acquisitions, the successful integration and achievement of estimated future cost savings related to the Birds Eye Foods acquisition, loss of our intellectual property rights, fluctuations in price and supply of raw materials, seasonality, our reliance on co-packers to meet our manufacturing needs, availability of qualified personnel, changes in the cost of compliance with laws and regulations, including environmental laws and regulations, and the other risks and uncertainties detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2010 and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update the information contained in the presentation.

Non-GAAP Financial Matters Pinnacle believes that the presentation of Consolidated EBITDA provides investors with useful information, as it is important in measuring covenant compliance with the financial covenants and determining our ability to engage in certain transactions in compliance with our debt facilities and it is a metric used internally by our Board of Directors and senior management.

Consolidated EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and may not be comparable to similarly named measures used by other companies. You should not consider Consolidated EBITDA as an alternative to operating or net earnings(loss), determined in accordance with GAAP, as an indicator of Pinnacle’s operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities, determined in accordance with GAAP, as an indicator of cash flows, or as a measure of liquidity.

 

2


Consolidated EBITDA is defined as earnings (loss) before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), further adjusted to exclude non-cash items, non-recurring items and other adjustment items permitted in calculating covenant compliance under the Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing the Senior Notes and Senior Subordinated Notes.

EBITDA and Consolidated EBITDA do not represent net earnings or (loss) or cash flow from operations as those terms are defined by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) and do not necessarily indicate whether cash flows will be sufficient to fund cash needs. In particular, the definitions of Consolidated EBITDA in the Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures allow us to add back certain non-cash, extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring charges that are deducted in calculating net earnings or loss. However, these are expenses that may recur, vary greatly and are difficult to predict. While EBITDA and Consolidated EBITDA and similar measures are frequently used as measures of operations and the ability to meet debt service requirements, they are not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to the potential inconsistencies in the method of calculation.

Our ability to comply with the financial covenants and engage in certain transactions in compliance with our debt agreements in future periods will depend on events beyond our control, and we cannot assure you that we will meet those ratios. A breach of any of these covenants in the future could result in a default under, or an inability to undertake certain activities in compliance with, the Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing the Senior Notes and Senior Subordinated Notes, at which time the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the Senior Secured Credit Facility to be immediately due and payable. Any such acceleration would also result in a default under the indentures governing the Senior Notes and Senior Subordinated Notes.

 

3


The following table provides a reconciliation from our net earnings to EBITDA and Consolidated EBITDA for the three months ended March 27, 2011 and March 28, 2010 and the year ended December 26, 2010. The terms and related calculations are defined in the Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing the Senior Notes and Senior Subordinated Notes.

 

     Three Months Ended
March 27, 2011
    Three Months Ended
March 28, 2010
     Fiscal Year Ended
December 26, 2010
 

Net earnings

   $ 20,276      $ 3,930       $ 22,037   

Interest expense, net

     51,248        55,124         235,716   

Income tax expense (benefit)

     13,239        3,040         7,399   

Depreciation and amortization expense

     20,410        19,879         78,049   
                         

EBITDA (unaudited)

   $ 105,173      $ 81,973       $ 343,201   
                         

Non-cash items (a)

     (1,222     17,519         71,500   

Non-recurring items (b)

     1,669        13,454         27,489   

Other adjustment items (c)

     1,238        3,905         7,580   

Net cost savings projected to be realized as a result of initiatives taken, including acquisition synergies (d)

     —          10,560         25,000   
                         

Consolidated EBITDA (unaudited)

   $ 106,858      $ 127,411       $ 474,770   
                         

Last twelve months Consolidated EBITDA (unaudited)

   $ 454,217        
             

 

(a) Non-cash items are comprised of the following:

 

     Three Months Ended
March 27, 2011
    Three Months Ended
March 28, 2010
    Fiscal Year Ended
December 26, 2010
 

Non-cash equity-related compensation charges

   $ 300      $ 205      $ 4,727   

Unrealized mark-to-market losses or (gains) resulting from hedging activities

     (1,522     (10     697   

Impairment charges

     —          —          29,000   

Effects of adjustments related to the application of purchase accounting - the write-up to fair market value of inventories acquired as a result of the Birds Eye Foods Acquisition

     —          17,324        37,076   
                        

Total non-cash items

   $ (1,222   $ 17,519      $ 71,500   
                        

 

(b) Non-recurring items are comprised of the following:

 

     Three Months Ended
March 27, 2011
     Three Months Ended
March 28, 2010
     Fiscal Year Ended
December 26, 2010
 

Expenses in connection with an acquisition or other non-recurring merger costs

   $ 250       $ 232       $ 923   

Restructuring charges, integration costs and other business optimization expenses

     1,365         12,274         25,472   

Employee severance and recruiting

     54         948         1,094   
                          

Total non-recurring items

   $ 1,669       $ 13,454       $ 27,489   
                          

 

(c) Other adjustment items are comprised of the following:

 

     Three Months Ended
March 27, 2011
     Three Months Ended
March 28, 2010
     Fiscal Year Ended
December 26, 2010
 

Management, monitoring, consulting and advisory fees paid to Blackstone

   $ 1,188       $ 1,180       $ 4,555   

Variable product contribution on Birds Eye Steamfresh complete bagged meals no longer being offered for sale

     —           2,725         2,837   

Other

     50         —           188   
                          

Total other adjustments

   $ 1,238       $ 3,905       $ 7,580   
                          

 

4


(d) Net cost savings projected to be realized as a result of initiatives taken:

 

     Three Months Ended      Three Months Ended      Fiscal Year Ended  
     March 27, 2011      March 28, 2010      December 26, 2010  

Estimated net cost savings associated with the Birds Eye Foods Acquisition (“synergies”) (1)

   $ —         $ 10,560       $ 25,000   
                          

Total net cost savings projected to be realized as a result of initiatives taken

   $ —         $ 10,560       $ 25,000   
                          

 

(1) Represents the estimated reduction in operating costs that we anticipate will result from the combination of Pinnacle and Birds Eye Foods as a result of eliminating duplicate overhead functions and overlapping operating expenses, leveraging supplier relationships and combined purchasing power to obtain procurement savings on raw materials and packaging, and optimizing and rationalizing overlapping warehouse and distribution networks less what has been realized.

 

5


PINNACLE FOODS FINANCE LLC AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited)

(thousands of dollars)

 

 

     Three months ended  
     March 27,      March 28,  
     2011      2010  

Net sales

   $ 606,311       $ 656,436   

Cost of products sold

     452,916         500,706   
                 

Gross profit

     153,395         155,730   

Operating expenses

     

Marketing and selling expenses

     41,831         52,837   

Administrative expenses

     20,996         33,930   

Research and development expenses

     1,994         2,346   

Other expense (income), net

     3,811         4,523   
                 

Total operating expenses

     68,632         93,636   
                 

Earnings before interest and taxes

     84,763         62,094   

Interest expense

     51,327         55,211   

Interest income

     79         87   
                 

Earnings before income taxes

     33,515         6,970   

Provision for income taxes

     13,263         3,040   
                 

Net earnings (loss)

   $ 20,252       $ 3,930   
                 

 

6


PINNACLE FOODS FINANCE LLC AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited)

(thousands of dollars)

 

 

     March 27,     December 26,  
     2011     2010  

Current assets:

    

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 176,818      $ 115,286   

Accounts receivable, net

     170,064        145,258   

Inventories, net

     318,880        329,635   

Other current assets

     21,347        21,507   

Deferred tax assets

     41,537        38,288   
                

Total current assets

     728,646        649,974   

Plant assets, net

     446,565        447,068   

Tradenames

     1,629,812        1,629,812   

Other assets, net

     193,625        200,367   

Goodwill

     1,564,395        1,564,395   
                

Total assets

   $ 4,563,043      $ 4,491,616   
                

Current liabilities:

    

Short-term borrowings

   $ 1,277      $ 1,591   

Current portion of long-term obligations

     7,781        4,648   

Accounts payable

     133,189        115,369   

Accrued trade marketing expense

     47,160        47,274   

Accrued liabilities

     160,065        142,746   

Accrued income taxes

     645        193   
                

Total current liabilities

     350,117        311,821   

Long-term debt (includes $127,698 and $125,698 owed to related parties)

     2,794,096        2,797,307   

Pension and other postretirement benefits

     77,559        78,606   

Other long-term liabilities

     41,169        43,010   

Deferred tax liabilities

     383,294        365,787   
                

Total liabilities

     3,646,235        3,596,531   

Commitments and contingencies

    

Shareholder’s equity:

    

Common stock

     —          —     

Additional paid-in-capital

     697,567        697,267   

Retained earnings

     267,602        247,350   

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     (48,361     (49,532
                

Total shareholder’s equity

     916,808        895,085   
                

Total liabilities and shareholder’s equity

   $ 4,563,043      $ 4,491,616   
                

 

7


PINNACLE FOODS FINANCE LLC AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited)

(thousands of dollars)

 

 

     Three months ended  
     March 27,     March 28,  
     2011     2010  

Cash flows from operating activities

    

Net earnings

   $ 20,252      $ 3,930   

Non-cash charges (credits) to net earnings

    

Depreciation and amortization

     20,410        19,879   

Amortization of discount on term loan

     301        688   

Amortization of debt acquisition costs

     2,587        3,537   

Amortization of deferred mark-to-market adjustment on terminated swaps

     705        1,033   

Change in value of financial instruments

     (1,561     (8

Stock-based compensation charge

     300        205   

Postretirement healthcare benefits

     (7     24   

Pension expense, net of contributions

     (1,040     811   

Other long-term liabilities

     (711     1,778   

Other long-term assets

     182        18   

Deferred income taxes

     12,951        (3,967

Changes in working capital

    

Accounts receivable

     (24,603     (35,817

Inventories

     11,185        71,100   

Accrued trade marketing expense

     (229     4,261   

Accounts payable

     17,659        (5,758

Accrued liabilities

     17,639        41,489   

Other current assets

     1,609        (985

Accrued income taxes

     445        —     
                

Net cash provided by operating activities

     78,074        102,218   
                

Cash flows from investing activities

    

Capital expenditures

     (15,815     (14,534
                

Net cash used in investing activities

     (15,815     (14,534
                

Cash flows from financing activities

    

Repayments of long-term obligations

     —          (30,143

Proceeds from short-term borrowings

     484        497   

Repayments of short-term borrowings

     (799     (626

Repayment of capital lease obligations

     (435     (322

Debt acquisition costs

     (67     (17

Change in bank overdrafts

     —          (5,140

Repurchases of equity

     —          (8

Repayment of notes receivable from officers

     —          565   
                

Net cash used in financing activities

     (817     (35,194
                

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash

     90        118   

Net change in cash and cash equivalents

     61,532        52,608   

Cash and cash equivalents - beginning of period

     115,286        73,874   
                

Cash and cash equivalents - end of period

   $ 176,818      $ 126,482   
                

Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:

    

Interest paid

   $ 36,604      $ 25,413   

Interest received

     79        87   

Income taxes (refunded) paid

     (5,332     8   

Non-cash investing and financing activities:

    

New capital leases

     55        822   

 

8