Wimm-Bill-Dann Scores an Ace

Investing in foreign-based companies isn't easy. You've got all the usual risks -- market, political, foreign exchange, and company-specific, of course. But you've also got to deal with various "bugs" in a U.S. system that seems to think there are no other companies in the world save ours. Often, it takes some digging to locate news about international companies -- even news that generates headlines when produced by analogous U.S. firms. Case in point: Russian dairy and juice concern Wimm-Bill-Dann (NYSE:WBD) reported its Q4 and full-year 2005 results on Tuesday. But does the news show up on Fool.com when you enter the ticker in our search box and hit "Go"?

Nah-ah. To learn how Wimm fared this past quarter, you basically have to track down the company's own website (www.wbd.com) and scroll through the news. Fortunately, it's worth the effort this time. I'll fill you in.

Headline No. 1
Remember how I said, back on Monday, that Wimm's five analysts had the company rated either a sell or a hold? Chuckleheads. Just look at the numbers Wimm posted:

• Sales: up 18% for the year
• Profits: up 32%, to $30.3 million
• Cash from operations: up 59%, to $113.9 million
• Free cash flow: up 1,042%, to $41.1 million

That's right, folks. Wimm is one of those firms that produces more cash profits than are reflected on its net profits line (under GAAP), making its P/E ratio look deceptively high. Although Wimm shares look pricey at 44 times trailing earnings, the firm's price-to-free cash flow ratio of 32 is actually pretty reasonable based on the rate at which profits (both cash and accounting) are growing.

These numbers alone seem worth a story or two on the wire reports, but they're not the whole story at Wimm. 2005 also saw what I suspect might be the beginning of a long-awaited trend -- the movement of Wimm's success story out of the high-income Russian capital, and into the provinces. In 2005, for the first time, Wimm made most of its sales in the Russian regions.

Headline No. 2
The other news at Wimm -- which would have been widely reported if the company had been based in Moscow, Idaho, rather than Moscow, Russia -- is a senior management change. As mentioned in my earnings preview, CEO Sergei Plastinin had been planning to step down in favor of a successor. That successor has been found: former Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) exec Tony Maher -- the very man responsible for guiding Coke's recent purchase of Wimm's rival, Multon. How significant is this poach? Let me risk a sports metaphor here: This is like the Washington Redskins hiring the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. With over a decade working in Russia, and working for Wimm's archrival to boot, Maher is undoubtedly the best man for this job.

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Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above.