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Hershey Reaffirms Financial Goals and Outlines Strategic Vision at CAGNY

  //house-home.news-articles.net/content/2011/02/2 .. oals-and-outlines-strategic-vision-at-cagny.html
  Published in House and Home on Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 at 11:50 GMT by Market Wire
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HERSHEY, Pa.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--In a presentation today at the 2011 Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference, David J. West, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), and J.P. Bilbrey Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, reviewed progress the Company has achieved in its consumer-driven approach to core brand investment in both the U.S. and key international markets.

"In 2010, Hershey increased its market share in the countries where we concentrated our efforts, and todaya™s presentation reflects the opportunities ahead of us and our vision of how wea™ll build on our momentum in 2011"

aIn 2010, Hershey increased its market share in the countries where we concentrated our efforts, and todaya™s presentation reflects the opportunities ahead of us and our vision of how wea™ll build on our momentum in 2011,a West said. During the presentation, West reaffirmed the Company's expectations for full-year 2011 net sales and adjusted earnings per share-diluted growth, with results expected to be around the top of the Companya™s long-term 3-to-5 percent and 6-to-8 percent objectives.

The Hershey Company presentation was accompanied by slides that can be accessed at the corporate website ([ http://www.thehersheycompany.com ]). Please go to the Investor Relations section of the website for further information.

Note: In this release, Hershey references income measures which are not in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) because they exclude business realignment and impairment charges. These non-GAAP financial measures are used in evaluating results of operations for internal purposes. These non-GAAP measures are not intended to replace the presentation of financial results in accordance with GAAP. Rather, the Company believes exclusion of such items provides additional information to investors to facilitate the comparison of past and present operations.

In 2010, the Company recorded GAAP charges of $53.9 million, or $0.14 per share-diluted, attributable to the Project Next Century program. Additionally, in the second quarter of 2010, the Company recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $44.7 million, or $0.20 per share-diluted, related to the Godrej Hershey Ltd. joint venture. In 2011, the Company expects to record total GAAP charges of about $45 million to $55 million, or $0.13 to $0.16 per share-diluted, attributable to Project Next Century. Below is a reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP items to the Companya™s 2010 adjusted earnings per share-diluted and projected adjusted earnings per share-diluted for 2011:

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains statements that are forward-looking. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: issues or concerns related to the quality and safety of our products, ingredients or packaging; changes in raw material and other costs; selling price increases, including volume declines associated with pricing elasticity; market demand for our new and existing products; increased marketplace competition; disruption to our supply chain; failure to successfully execute acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures; changes in governmental laws and regulations, including taxes; political, economic, and/or financial market conditions; risks and uncertainties related to our international operations; disruptions, failures or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; the impact of future developments related to the investigation by government regulators of alleged pricing practices by members of the confectionery industry, including risks of subsequent litigation or further government action; pension cost factors, such as actuarial assumptions, market performance and employee retirement decisions and funding requirements; the ability to implement our supply chain realignment initiatives within the anticipated timeframe in accordance with our cost estimates and our ability to achieve the expected ongoing annual savings from these initiatives; and such other matters as discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2010. All information in this press release is as of February 23, 2011. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Companya™s expectations.