General Mills' Yoplait purchase lifts sales

General Mills' important yogurt business slipped in the U.S. for the three months ending last month.

But the food maker's recent purchase of Yoplait International lifted sales overseas and helped General Mills post quarterly net income of $549 million, up 35 percent from a year ago.

The company's sales rose 5 percent to a little more than $4 billion. General Mills' U.S. yogurt sales dropped 10 percent, despite the introduction of new traditional and Greek yogurt products. Chobani and Fage have captured about two-thirds of the fast-growing Greek yogurt market.

But General Mills CEO Ken Powell expects his company will catch up.

"Our Greek yogurt business turned in a good performance led by our multi-pack items," Powell said. "Our Greek retail sales increased 85 percent and we picked up nearly a full point in market share in the Greek segment this quarter."

General Mills expects ingredient costs to rise 2 percent to 3 percent compared to 10 percent in its last fiscal year.