Dec 20 Reuters General Mills cut its annual sales forecast on Wednesday, hurt by slowing demand for its higherpriced breakfast cereals, snack bars and pet food products.

Shares of the Cheerios cereal maker were down 1 in premarket trading after it also missed secondquarter sales expectations.

High interest rates and sticky inflation are prompting consumers to opt for pantry staples from cheaper privatelabel alternatives to pricier national brands.

Repeated price hikes, undertaken to offset high input costs, have also pushed consumers to shop smaller pack and basket sizes in a hit to sales for General Mills.

The company forecast fiscal 2024 organic net sales between down 1 and flat, from a year earlier, compared with its earlier forecast for growth of 3 to 4. Analysts expected growth of 2.4, according to LSEG data.

Its net sales fell 2 to 5.14 billion, below estimates of 5.35 billion.

Reporting by Annett Mary Manoj and Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath

Source Reuters