Quarterly Earnings Releases Sandita McDermott Rebecca Albus

Quarterly Earnings ReleasesSandita McDermott

Rebecca Albus

Researched Companies

General Mills – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kellogg – Battle Creek, Michigan

Campbell’s Soup – Camden, New Jersey

ConAgra – Omaha, Nebraska Kraft

Kraft- Northfield, Illinois

Nestle – Vevey, Switzerland

Coca-Cola – Atlanta, Georgia

Pepsi- Purchase, New York

Barry Callebaut - Zurich, Switzerland

Key Takeaways/Messages

Having eye catching visual aids and graphs that break down the numbers into a easily digestible way are very appealing and used by the larger companies ie: General Mills and Kellogg

Some companies (more so the larger companies) offer many different avenues for the consumer to analyze the financial success ie: Powerpoint presentations, Press Releases, Webcasts, Podcasts, Live Conference Calls etc.

Telling the Company story was not something that was too popular but is definitely emerging in the releases whether through a presentation in particular or through the incorporation of positive press web links that were easily accessible

General Mills

GM’s format is much more in depth and interactive than that of The Hershey Company providing both numbers heavy releases and ones that are easier to skim through to get

the overall picture.

Financial News Release (Quarterly)

News Releases Financial ReportsStock Performance InformationPresentations are all found together as links on the Investors page.

CEO quote: Paragraphs discussing the different actions the company took to strengthen their portfolio. Discusses the overall sales and profits and uses comparisons but not too in depth.

Format of Release: Graphs provided in “Statements of Earnings” section

– Format remains consistent when comparing past releases

Links to conference calls, conference notes, investor meeting webcasts, and links to different releases are provided

Kellogg’s

Interactive and provides both the standard release while supplementing it with several different easy and appealing ways to look at the quarterly results.


Repetition of ‘excellent categories, good share performance, iconic brands, great team’

Begins broad then is broken down by each category being snacks, Kashi, specialty etc.

CEO quote: http://investor.kelloggs.com/annuals.cfm

Format of release: The News Releases are all found under the link where it is a list of any release that is related to their financial standings


– Image based with a lot of products, graphs, diagrams.

– Tells a story

Release provides links to a webcast, printable slides, podcast, official announcement, appendices and a transcript.

Campbell’s

Not very appealing, but loaded with a lot of information. It provides the information they need in a quick way but it does require some time to sift

through each of the links to look for certain information.


Includes both financial information and other news releases.

– Mergers and acquisitions, new products, survey results, naming of new hires etc.

CEO quote: About 3 pages in length and discusses the company’s major focuses and their new vision. The quote is solely from the CEO and it incorporates their success story supported by the financial data. Then there is a note from the Chairman of the Board who recaps a new acquisition and reiterates their success and thanks the members of the team.

Format of release: Covering each categories individually, while providing brief supplemental schedules of sales. Mixture of paragraphs and bullets.

In the investor section the news releases are broken down into ‘All Releases’ and ‘Financial News Releases’. The ‘Financial News Releases’ link the standard releases on the quarterly earnings.

ConAgra

Provides recent news releases directly on the investors relations front page and links to quarterly earnings news. Following that they provide other news on the

company’s brands, dividends and the company in general making all news releases a central focus


Dividends sectionEarnings SectionFinancial News/Announcements sectionQ&A section

CEO quote: uses quotes from various ConAgra employees from farmers to line production employees to engineers and senior vice presidents.

Format of release: Subsections with more bullets than paragraphs

– Graphs provided in “Statements of Earnings” section

Provides access to webcasts and coverage on the different presentations that financial management may present

Kraft

Kraft’s releases are the most different than Hershey’s. They’re very short and rely more on succinct bullets rather than financial-based paragraphs


Quarterly Financial Summary (Marketing Highlights)

Highlights by Reporting Segment

Outlook

Statements of Earnings

CEO quote: Very short statement, no financial terminology and the press releases analyzed

Format of release: Subsections with more bullets than paragraphs

– Graphs provided in “Statements of Earnings” section


Links to webcast and information to attain replays of that quarter’s conference call

Nestle

The majority of Nestle’s press releases focuses on highlights, strategies, and improvement areas in each ZONE rather than looking at Nestle as a whole.

Financial News Release (Quarterly)Marketing HighlightsA Words from the CEOBusiness ReviewZone OverviewsOutlookAnnex

CEO quote: Longer (has its own section), speaks from a financial perspective but then translates how that effects the company

Format of release: More bulleted sections than paragraphsTables provided in “Annex” SectionFormat remains consistent when comparing past releases

Provides translations of quarterly results in three languages

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola’s quarterly releases are very short and not necessarily “to the point”. It’s not as in-depth as Hershey’s.


Quarter Highlights

Press Release

Performance Highlights

CEO quote: More financially speaking; longer section than others

Format of release: Quarterly Highlights are bulleted, other sections are in paragraph form

Format remains consistent when comparing past releases

Links to financial earnings and webcast

Pepsi

Pepsi uses more financial terminology compared to other researched companies and its CEO doesn’t have as large of a presence in the release (good or bad?)

Financial News Release (Quarterly)Quarter HighlightsOperating/Marketing HighlightsSummary of Quarter Financial PerformanceDivision Operating Summaries2012 Guidance and Outlook

CEO quote: Explains whether he found the quarter successful or not and why (financial terminology) and then discusses how this will affect next quarter (more common terminology)

Format of release: Subsections with a good balance of bullets and paragraph formFormat remains consistent when comparing past releases

Links to Webcast, Audio, Conference Call Presentation, and Transcript available

Barry Callebaut

**Unable to access quarterly earnings due to errors in website hyperlinks**

Recommendations

Mixture of bullets and paragraph in its press releases

Simplifying some of the terminology

Quoting other credible sources other than JP?

Easy access to conference calls, powepoints, webcast, etc (links)

Talk about Hershey success stories in the community and workplace!! (It’s okay to boast)

Q&A Section (ConAgra)

Documents

Quarterly Earnings Releases Sandita McDermott Rebecca Albus