May 22 - Bakery company Flowers Foods Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit as higher pricing helped offset a rise in input costs, and it also raised its outlook for the full year.
"Our performance in the first quarter was strong in the face of cost pressures and the uncertainty of consumer behavior as energy and food costs rose," Chief Executive George Deese said in a statement.
Deese said the second quarter would witness the steepest increase in commodity costs for the year. "In the short term, we will experience greater pressure due to those high costs."
However, he believes the company will be able to overcome this short-term challenge.
Flowers Foods raised its 2008 earnings view to between $1.15 and $1.23 a share, from its prior view of $1.07 to $1.17 a share.
It now expects full year sales of $2.22 billion to $2.27 billion. The maker of Nature's Own bread and Mrs. Freshley's baked goods had previously forecast sales of $2.21 billion to $2.26 billion for the period.
Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.14 per share, before special items, on sales of $2.22 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
For the first quarter ended April 19, the company posted a net income of $35.8 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $28.5 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago.
Sales rose about 11 percent to $676.7 million.
Analysts on average expected the company to earn 35 cents a share, before special items, on sales of $663.4 million.