=Constellation Brands (STZ) reported earnings on Thur 6 Apr 2017 (b/o)

• Constellation Brands posts 4Q profit

VICTOR, N.Y. (AP)  Constellation Brands beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides FY18 EPS above consensus; raises dividend 30% :

• Reports Q4 (Feb) earnings of $1.48 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.36; revenues rose 5.5% year/year to $1.63 bln vs the $1.59 bln Capital IQ Consensus. This reflects organic net sales growth on a constant currency basis of 7%.
  • Net sales for beer increased 11%. This was due to a 10 % increase in organic net sales driven primarily by volume growth and favorable pricing.
  • Wine and spirits net sales were flat. This reflects a four % increase in organic net sales and the acquisition benefit from Prisoner, Charles Smith and High West, offset by the divestiture of the Canadian wine business.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $7.70-8.00, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $7.51 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. 
  • For fiscal 2018, the beer business is targeting net sales growth in the range of 9 - 11 % and operating income growth in the range of 11 - 13 %.
  • For the wine and spirits business, the co expects net sales to decrease in the range of 4 - 6 % and operating income to be flat. These projections include the estimated impact of the December 2016 divestiture of the Canadian wine business and the estimated incremental benefits from High West, Charles Smith and Prisoner acquisitions. Excluding the $311 million of net sales and $50 million of operating income from the fiscal 2017 wine and spirits segment results related to the Canadian wine business divestiture, the company expects net sales growth of 4 - 6 % and operating income growth of 5 - 7 % for fiscal 2018.
• On April 5, 2017, Constellation's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.52 per share of Class A Common Stock and $0.47 per share of Class B Common Stock, payable on May 24, 2017, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 10, 2017. This represents an increase of ~30% in the dividend rate per share for both the Class A and Class B Common Stock. During fiscal 2017, the company repurchased ~7.4 million shares of common stock for $1.1 billion, including ~5 million shares of common stock for $750 million during fourth quarter fiscal 2017.