Post Holdings Updates on Klingerstown, PA Michael Foods Plant Fire and Reports Municipal Water Boil Order at its Michael Foods Lenox, IA Plant
- Klingerstown, PA plant continues to operate while fire damage is repaired; damage primarily to roof and electrical infrastructure
- Boil order issued by Southern Iowa Rural Water Association causing temporary shutdown of the company’s Lenox, IA egg facility
ST. LOUIS, June 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST), a consumer packaged goods holding company, previously reported a fire took place on the evening of May 24, 2018 at its Michael Foods precooked egg plant location in Klingerstown, PA. All employees were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire, which started in the duct work of an oven, is continuing to be investigated.
Certain parts of the Klingerstown plant continue to operate. Fire damage, which was primarily to the roof and electrical infrastructure in the oven area, is being repaired. As of June 1, partial production returned to the oven area. Other oven production areas are expected to progressively be brought back into service with completion expected by mid-July.
In a separate, unrelated incident, on June 1, 2018 a water boil order was issued by the municipal water association servicing the company’s Lenox, IA precooked egg facility necessitating a shutdown of that facility. The boil order, which affects eight counties, continues in effect. Michael Foods is working closely with water association officials and several government agencies to develop a plan that will enable the plant to restart operations. Michael Foods currently expects to restart partial operations on June 7 using a combination of heat treatment and water filtration. Normal municipal water service and in turn full scale operations are not expected before June 11.
Post management is in the process of assessing the financial impact of both incidents. While underlying egg product demand remains strong, the business disruption at the two facilities will result in some service level issues and ultimately lost sales revenue. These revenue losses will be mitigated to the extent possible by using existing product inventories, maximizing use of other precooked egg facility assets and collaborating with our customers.
Forward Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, are made throughout this press release. These forward-looking statements are sometimes identified from the use of forward-looking words such as “believe,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “predict,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “intend,” “plan,” “forecast,” “target,” “is likely,” “will,” “can,” “may,” or “would” or the negative of these terms or similar expressions elsewhere in this release. All forward-looking statements are subject to a number of important factors, risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements. These factors and risks include, but are not limited to, the amount and timing of any insurance recovery, the timing to resume production both in Klingerstown and Lenox and other financial, operational and legal risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Post’s cautionary statements contained in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent Post’s judgment as of the date of this press release. Post disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
About Post Holdings, Inc.
Post Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient, active nutrition and private brand food categories. Through its Post Consumer Brands business, Post is a leader in the North American ready-to-eat cereal category offering a broad portfolio including recognized brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats®, Pebbles™, Great Grains® and Malt-O-Meal® bag cereal. Post also is a leader in the United Kingdom ready-to-eat cereal category with the iconic Weetabix® brand. As leader in refrigerated foods, Post brings innovative, value-added egg and refrigerated potato products to the foodservice channel and the retail refrigerated side dish category, offering side dishes and egg, sausage and cheese products through the Bob Evans®, All Whites®, Better’n Eggs®, Simply Potatoes® and Crystal Farms® brands. Post’s Active Nutrition platform aids consumers in adopting healthier lifestyles through brands such as Premier Protein®, PowerBar® and Dymatize®. Post’s Private Brands business manufactures private brand nut butter, healthy snacks and pasta. For more information, visit www.postholdings.com.