Prices nick General Mills' earnings

Higher commodity costs took a significant bite out of General Mills' earnings for the company's fiscal year ending last month.

General Mills' fourth-quarter net income edged up 2 percent. Revenue for the entire year was up, but rising costs cut profits by 13 percent to $1.6 billion.

"The last 12 months was a challenging period for the food industry," said Ken Powell, General Mills' CEO. "Input costs increased at the highest rate in over three decades. And the pace of economic recovery around the world remains slow, at best."

Powell said officials expect slow economic growth to continue. General Mills is projecting about a 5 percent sales increase in the coming year. But its earnings forecast for the year was below Wall Street estimates. The company's stock price closed down about 2 percent Wednesday.