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May 31, 2020
Lamb Weston Q4 2020 Earnings Report
Lamb Weston's fourth quarter results were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with net sales and diluted EPS declining.
Key Takeaways
Lamb Weston's Q4 2020 net sales decreased by 16% to $847 million, and net income resulted in a loss of $2 million, a decline of $112 million. Diluted EPS also declined to a loss of $0.01 from $0.75. These results were significantly impacted by costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Net sales declined 16% to $847 million.
Income from operations declined 79% to $31 million, including $58 million of net COVID-19 related costs.
Net income declined $112 million to a loss of $2 million.
Diluted EPS declined $0.76 to a loss of $0.01 from $0.75.
Lamb Weston
Lamb Weston
Forward Guidance
Due to the unpredictable effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, the company does not believe it can reasonably forecast frozen potato product demand for fiscal 2021.
Positive Outlook
- Shipments to large chain restaurant customers, which are primarily composed of quick service restaurants (“QSR”) that have relied on drive-thru traffic to support sales, have recovered to 85 to 90 percent of prior-year levels during the most recent weeks of the quarter.
- Shipments to customers served by the Company’s Foodservice segment have gradually improved during the quarter, and have recovered to 70 to 75 percent of prior-year levels during the most recent weeks as states began to ease on-premises dining restrictions.
- Shipments to retail customers during the most recent weeks are trending up 5 to 10 percent compared with the prior year period, as consumer trends to increase food-at-home purchases begin to normalize.
- Shipments-to-date by the Company’s joint venture, Lamb-Weston/Meijer v.o.f. (“LWM”), are approximately 75 percent of prior-year levels, and have gradually improved as the quarter progressed as countries began to ease on-premises dining restrictions.
- Shipments-to-date are approximately 85 percent of prior-year levels, and have improved from nearly 80 percent of prior-year levels at the end of May to more than 95 percent of prior-year levels in the most recent weeks as the country continues to ease on-premises dining restrictions and as consumers increasingly become more comfortable with dining on-premises.
Challenges Ahead
- The Company believes these improvements may become less pronounced, cease or reverse as the spread of COVID-19 continues and states reinstate or otherwise postpone on-premises dining restrictions.
- A high percentage of LWM’s sales in Europe are to QSRs, which unlike U.S. QSRs, rely on dine-in, carry-out or delivery traffic as drive-thru options are limited.
- Shipments-to-date have been soft compared with the prior year, reflecting the effect of the continued spread of COVID-19 and inventory destocking in several key markets.
- The Company reduced contracting of raw potatoes by approximately 20-25 percent for the 2020 crop year, compared with its 2019 crop year purchases.
- The Company expects that it will continue to incur costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on its manufacturing, supply chain, commercial and functional support operations.