General Mills is a global food manufacturer that markets consumer food products in over 100 countries. It owns several well-known brands such as Cheerios, Yoplait, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Old El Paso, and Nature Valley. General Mills utilizes various strategies such as holistic margin management and hedging commodity prices to maximize profits. It generates strong cash flows primarily from operations and returns capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases while also focusing on corporate social responsibility initiatives.

1. General Mills
By: Rhea Shetty

2. The Company
• Global food manufacturer
– Manufactures products in more than 30 countries
• Marketer of consumer food
– Markets them in more than 100 countries

3. Brands under General Mills
• Cheerios
• Yoplait
• Pillsbury
• Betty Crocker
• Old El Paso
• Nature Valley

4. FOB shipping point
Shipping and handling charges billed to the customer

5. Revenue Recognition
• Recognize sales revenue when the shipment is
accepted by the customer
• Sales, use, value-added, and other excise taxes are
not recognized in revenue

6. Holistic Margin Management
Eliminate expense
Redeploy savings
Low raw
material
cost
reduce the
amount of
packaging
Low
transportation
cost Alternative
energy

7. Maximizing Gross Margins

8. Commodity price risks
• Commodities that GM uses in the production and
distribution of their products are volatile
• GM utilizes derivatives to manage price risk for their
principal ingredients

9. Internal control - COSO
1. The control environment – HMM
2. Risk assessment - volatile prices of commodities
3. Control activities - utilize derivatives to manage
price risk for principle ingredients

10. Inventory Management
FIFO Internal
LIFO External

11. Note 17 - Balance Sheet Recording

12. Stockholder’s equity
Fundamental financial goal
generate superior returns for our stockholders
Fiscal 2014
• $2.7 billion to stockholders in fiscal 2014
• 17 percent dividend increase
• 47 percent more shares of common stock
repurchased

13. Benchmark Analysis

14. Liquidity
Primary source of cash
Operating activities

15. Cash Flow
Fiscal Year
In Millions 2014 2013 2012
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 2,541 $ 2926 $ 2407.2
Net cash used by investing activities $ (561.80) $ (1,515.40) $ (1,870.80)
Net cash used by financing activities $ (1,824.10) $ (1,140.20) $ (666.60)
Fiscal Year
2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
Operating cash flow to debt ratio 28.90% 36.70% 32.40% 22.20% 34%

16. Bottom Line
“sales and profit results fell short of our targets”

17. Management Discussion and Analysis- forward
looking opinions
• Expect to grow share in the U.S. cereal category through significant product
innovation
• Build on our improving performance in the U.S. yogurt category
• Continue to view HMM discipline.
• Expect to deliver strong cash returns to stockholders in fiscal 2015, including
annualized dividends per share of $1.64
• Our businesses generate strong levels of cash flows
• Fiscal 2015 plans call for approximately $730 million of expenditures for
capital projects.

18. Corporate Social Responsibility
• Front of pack calorie labeling
• Working toward reducing GHG emissions by 2025
• Funded CARE programs in West Africa
• “family-friendly” advertiser
• Since 2005, reduced our energy and water usage
rates,
• Improved the amount of recycled content
and recyclability of our packaging.

19. THANK YOU