Lancaster Colony reports Q1 EPS $1.62, consensus $1.66

Reports Q1 revenue $466.1M, consensus $468.45M. CEO David A. Ciesinski commented, “We were pleased to complete the quarter with record sales of $466.6 million and record gross profit of $110.8 million. In the Retail segment, we saw continued growth from our licensing program driven by the Subway sauces we launched this past spring and expanding distribution for Texas Roadhouse(R) dinner rolls following a successful pilot test. Excluding the perimeter-of-the-store bakery product lines that we exited in March, Retail net sales increased 1.4% and Retail sales volume, measured in pounds shipped, increased 1.9%. In the Foodservice segment, despite industry-wide trends of slowing traffic, net sales grew 3.5% driven by increased demand from several of our national chain restaurant customers and volume gains for our branded Foodservice products.” “Our reported gross profit margin reflects a sequential improvement of 220 basis points from our fiscal fourth quarter and an increase of 20 basis points compared to last year’s fiscal first quarter as our financial performance benefited from the higher sales volume and our ongoing cost savings initiatives.” “Looking ahead to our fiscal second quarter and the remainder of our fiscal year, we anticipate Retail segment sales will continue to benefit from our growing licensing program, driven by new product introductions such as Subway sauces and Texas Roadhouse dinner rolls. Our newly launched New York BRAND Bakery gluten-free garlic bread will also add to the Retail segment’s sales. In the Foodservice segment, we anticipate continued volume gains from select customers in our mix of national chain restaurant accounts.”