The company is also approaching the one-year mark of its $820 million acquisition of Annie’s, which may account for a fraction of sales but represents General Mills’ efforts to expand into the growing natural foods segment, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Minneapolis-based General Mills posted earnings of 61 cents per diluted share on revenue of $4.27 billion for the fiscal 2015 first quarter.

Adjusted for one-time charges or benefits, Mills had first quarter earnings of 79 cents per share, 10 cents above the consensus estimate of stock analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue ticked down 1.4% to $4.21 billion. On a constant-currency basis, net sales grew 4%, including 2 points of growth contributed by Annie’s – the business General Mills acquired in October 2014.

General Mills rose 1.6 percent to $57.70 at 7:05 a.m.in early trading in New York.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 22nd. Excluding currency impacts, however, sales would have been up 5 percent on growth in Canada and Europe.

General Mills chairman and CEO Ken Powell said that the company’s plans for fiscal 2016 anticipates “strong” first quarter growth, underpinned by the group’s “consumer first” initiatives.

Overall, pound volume grew 2 percent from the prior-year, while pricing and mix added 2 percentage points to sales growth.

General Mills stock was up 1 percent in premarket trading.

General Mills Inc, the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt, reported a 23.6 percent rise in quarterly net profit, helped by higher sales of its cereals, meals and yogurts in the United States. Zacks lowered General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

General Mills has been cutting jobs and closing plants to combat tepid sales. Foreign exchange headwinds dragged revenues by 5%. Net sales for the Convenience Stores and Foodservice segment increased 1%. Sales increased 1% to $477.7 million from $473 million.

Results for the latest quarter primarily include $0.09 per share of restructuring costs, and $0.01 per share of project-related costs. The company also projects net sales in constant currency to essentially match the 2015 levels of $17.63 billion that included a 53rd week. Cash Flow Items Cash provided by operating activities totaled $431 million in the first quarter, up 31 percent from the prior year due to higher net earnings. Sales are expected to drop at a 0.40% rate.

The guidance excludes the impact of the proposed sales of the Green Giant and Le Sueur vegetables businesses to B&G Foods, Inc.