General Mills (GIS)

changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets; changes in capital structure; changes in laws and regulations, including labeling and advertising regulations; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in accounting standards and the impact of significant accounting estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer demand for our products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and promotional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials, packaging, and energy; disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain; volatility in the market value of derivatives used to hedge price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates used to determine plan liabilities; failure of our information technology systems; resolution of uncertain income tax matters; foreign economic conditions, including currency rate fluctuations; and political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war.

 

You should also consider the risk factors that we identify in Item 1A of this report, which could also affect our future results.

 

We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

 

We are exposed to market risk stemming from changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodity prices, and equity prices. Changes in these factors could cause fluctuations in our earnings and cash flows. In the normal course of business, we actively manage our exposure to these market risks by entering into various hedging transactions, authorized under established policies that place clear controls on these activities. The counterparties in these transactions are generally highly rated institutions. We establish credit limits for each counterparty. Our hedging transactions include but are not limited to a variety of derivative financial instruments.

 

This report contains or incorporates by reference
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our
current expectations and assumptions. We also may make written
or oral forward-looking statements, including statements
contained in our filings with the SEC and in our reports to
stockholders.

 

The words or phrases “will likely result,” “are
expected to,” “will continue,” “is
anticipated,” “estimate,” “plan,”
“project,” or similar expressions identify
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from historical
results and those currently anticipated or projected. We wish to
caution you not to place undue reliance on any such
forward-looking statements.

 

In connection with the “safe harbor” provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we are
identifying important factors that could affect our financial
performance and could cause our actual results in future periods
to differ materially from any current opinions or statements.

 

Our future results could be affected by a variety of factors,
such as: competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and
the markets for our products, including new product
introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and
promotional activities of our competitors; economic conditions,
including changes in inflation rates, interest rates, or tax
rates; product development and innovation; consumer acceptance
of new products and product improvements; consumer reaction to
pricing actions and

changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of
businesses or assets; changes in capital structure; changes in
laws and regulations, including labeling and advertising
regulations; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill,
other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes
in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in
accounting standards and the impact of significant accounting
estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls
and product liability; changes in consumer demand for our
products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and
promotional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and
preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception
of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in
the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory
levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and
availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials,
packaging, and energy; disruptions or inefficiencies in the
supply chain; volatility in the market value of derivatives used
to hedge price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan
expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates
used to determine plan liabilities; failure of our information
technology systems; resolution of uncertain income tax matters;
foreign economic conditions, including currency rate
fluctuations; and political unrest in foreign markets and
economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war.

 

You should also consider the risk factors that we identify in
Item 1A of this report, which could also affect our future
results.

 

We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence
of anticipated or unanticipated events.

 

We are exposed to market risk stemming from changes in interest
rates, foreign exchange rates, commodity prices, and equity
prices. Changes in these factors could cause fluctuations in our
earnings and cash flows. In the normal course of business, we
actively manage our exposure to these market risks by entering
into various hedging transactions, authorized under established
policies that place clear controls on these activities. The
counterparties in these transactions are generally highly rated
institutions. We establish credit limits for each counterparty.
Our hedging transactions include but are not limited to a
variety of derivative financial instruments.