Flowers Foods releases Q4 and full-year 2021 results

Flowers Foods, a producer of bread products, has released its Q4 2021 and full-year results. The results from the Thomasville, Ga.-based company show a decrease in both branded and store brand sales, a decrease in name brand product sales compared to Q3 2021.

“Flowers' strong financial results in a year of unique challenges demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy and the resiliency of our team," said Ryals McMullian, Flowers Foods' president and CEO. "Our leading brands continue to gain market share, and we are focused on improving efficiencies through programs like our digital transformation initiative. We expect these programs, along with increased pricing that we implemented in January 2022, to offset the inflationary impact that we experienced in the fourth quarter.”

In the Q4 period ended Jan. 1 2022, sales decreased 3.9% to $983.5 million. Excluding the additional week in the prior year period, sales increased 3.8%. Net income decreased 29.6% to $39.3 million, and adjusted net income decreased 29.1% to $41.9 million.

In Q4, branded retail sales, which include Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonderbread and more, decreased $26.9 million or 4.0% to $649.9 million, and store branded retail sales decreased $20.0 million or 14.6% to $116.8 million. Flowers Foods said the store branded sales decrease was due to a shift towards branded retail products, although sales of store branded cake and gluten-free items increased.

Looking ahead, Flowers Foods says it expects sales in the range of approximately $4.660 billion to $4.695 billion, representing an increase of approximately 7.6% to 8.4% compared to the prior year period.

"Our outlook for fiscal 2022 reflects our expectation that investments in innovation and marketing, price increases, and a continued emphasis on efficiencies will drive sales and earnings growth,"McMullian said. "Although the operating environment remains challenging, our early 2022 results have been promising and we expect to maintain that momentum. As always, our dedicated Flowers team is focused on maximizing shareholder value and driving results in line with our long-term financial targets."