Brown-Forman reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; updates FY16 EPS guidance
- Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.94 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.94; revenues were unchanged from the year-ago period at $1.09 bln vs. $1.1 bln consensus (+4% on an underlying basis).
- Reported operating income grew 2% in the quarter to $278 million (+5% on an underlying basis).
- YTD underlying net sales increased 5%: Price/mix contributed four percentage points to net sales growth and gross margin grew 40bps
- The Jack Daniel's family of brands grew underlying net sales 7% (-1% reported)
- Co issues guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $3.32-3.42 from $3.40-3.60, may not be comparable to $3.44 Capital IQ Consensus, or $4.97 to $5.07 including $483 mln gain from sale of Southern Comfort. This tightened EPS range incorporates six cents of additional FX headwinds, four cents due to the absence of earnings from divested brands, three cents due to the one point reduction in underlying operating income growth, offset by five cents due to a lower expected tax rate and share count. ~5% growth in underlying net sales 7% to 9% growth in underlying operating income.