McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) has projected that its 2024 earnings per share would fall between $2.76 and $2.81. When considering special circumstances, the company predicts that the adjusted 2024 earnings per share will lie between $2.80 and $2.85, indicating an anticipated increase ranging from 4% to 6%, or 5% to 7% in constant currency terms. Subtracting the influence of special charges, the forecasted increase for adjusted operating income ranges from 3% to 5%, or 4% to 6% in constant currency terms, powered by gross margin enlargement. McCormick anticipates that the 2024 sales will be anywhere from 2% lower to level compared to 2023 or down 1% to up 1% on a constant currency scale.
The company's earnings for the fourth quarter stood at $219.3 million, which is a rise compared to the previous year's $185.7 million. Earning per share for this period was $0.81, a rise from the prior year's $0.69. When factoring in impacts, the adjusted earnings per share totalled $0.85 compared to the previous year's $0.73. After excluding special charges, the adjusted operating income was noted as $311 million, compared to the previous year's $278 million. In terms of constant currency, the adjusted operating income rose 11% from the previous year. Notably, the analysts from Thomson Reuters had on average expected the company to report earnings of $0.79 per share.
The fourth quarter saw a sales increment of 3%, totalling to $1.75 billion compared to the previous year, or 2% sales growth when referring to constant currency.