THOMASVILLE, Ga., July 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowers Foods,
Inc. (NYSE: FLO) today announced a voluntary employee separation
incentive plan (VSIP) as part of its effort to restructure,
streamline operations, and better position the company for
profitable growth. The VSIP is available to certain salaried
employees who meet certain defined age, length-of-service, and
business function criteria. Employees who elect the VSIP will
receive enhanced separation benefits. The VSIP is expected to
be substantially completed by the end of fiscal 2017.
Currently, it is not known which employees will elect to
participate in the VSIP, so the company is unable to estimate cost,
which will consist primarily of employee severance and
benefits-related costs. An estimate of the amount or range of costs
and benefit will be provided when a good faith determination can be
made, which is expected to be in the third quarter of 2017.
Earlier this year, Flowers announced an enhanced organizational
structure focused on the company's strategic objectives of brand
growth and innovation, enhanced accountability, cost and complexity
reductions, and a strengthened long-term strategy. The changes
result from Project Centennial, an extensive operational review and
multiyear plan to improve the company's performance.
About Flowers Foods
Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:
FLO) is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods
in the United States with 2016
sales of $3.9 billion. Flowers
operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of
bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's
Own, Wonder, Tastykake, and Dave's Killer
Bread. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in
this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate
to current expectations regarding the expected timing of the
completion of the VSIP, the expected cost of the VSIP and the
expected benefits of the VSIP and are often identified by the use
of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue,"
"could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict,"
"project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to," "is expected
to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms or other
comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ from those projected. Other factors that may cause
actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements
contained in this release and that may affect the company's
prospects in general include, but are not limited to, (a) the
impact of the level and timing of employee participation in the
VSIP on separation costs, (b) competitive conditions in the baked
foods industry, including promotional and price competition, (c)
changes in consumer demand for our products, including changes in
consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and
whole grain trends, and the movement toward more inexpensive
store-branded products, (d) the success of productivity
improvements and new product introductions, (e) a significant
reduction in business with any of our major customers including a
reduction from adverse developments in any of our customer's
business, (f) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (g) energy and raw
material costs and availability and hedging and counterparty risk,
(h) our ability to fully integrate recent acquisitions into our
business, (i) our ability to achieve cash flow from capital
expenditures and acquisitions and the availability of new
acquisitions that build shareholder value, (j) consolidation within
the baking industry and related industries, (k) disruptions in our
direct-store delivery system, including litigation or an adverse
ruling from a court or regulatory or government body that could
affect the independent contractor classification of our independent
distributors, and (l) the failure of our information technology
systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions,
intrusions or security breaches of such systems. The
foregoing list of important factors does not include all such
factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance.
In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the
company, including the risk factors included in our most recently
filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and
disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company press
releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected by the company. We caution
you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as
they speak only as of the date made and are inherently
uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly
revise or update such statements, except as required by law.
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SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.