During its quarterly Web cast last week, Flowers Foods announced that it will build a new bakery in a yet-to-be disclosed location. The Thomasville, Ga.-based company indicated that it will provide further details in the near future.
In fiscal 2007, Flowers Foods invested $88.1 million in capital expenditure projects, including new production capacity in Newton, N.C., as well as projects aimed at improving efficiency and quality in its other bakeries. The company also purchased a building in Suwanee, Ga., which it had leased since the divestiture of Mrs. Smith's to the Schwan Food Co. in 2003. That building houses two production lines.
In the fourth quarter, the company also purchased a small bakery mix operation in Maryland. That operation had been a former snack cake mix supplier to Flowers and other companies
In fiscal 2008, Flowers anticipates spending $95-$100 million in capital expenditures. Earlier, the company announced that it is building a bakery in Kentucky. That facility is scheduled to start up later this year.
"We remain committed to a balanced program of capital investments, dividend payments and share repurchase activity, while maintaining flexibility in our cash position and our debt capacity that will allow us to opportunistically target acquisitions," says George Deese, chairman, CEO and president of Flowers Foods.
For more information about Flowers' fourth quarter and fiscal 2007 year-end results, go towww.FlowersFoods.com.