Danone Sales Boosted by Europe

The French dairy company is making progress after facing a series of problems in recent years.
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Danone SA said Monday that third-quarter sales were lifted by a strong performance in Europe and on growth in its water and baby food units, as the French dairy company makes progress after facing a series of problems in recent years.
The company, whose brands include Actimel and Activia, said sales for the three months ended Sept. 30 grew 4.2% to €5.6 billion ($6.36 billion) from a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report sales of €5.7 billion.
In recent years Danone faced problems that included a subdued economy in Europe and food-safety scares in Asia. Emmanuel Faber, its new chief executive, took the reins of the company in October last year and has vowed to return Danone to sustainable growth, reviewing its business in China and overhauling its fresh dairy unit.
Solid growth in baby food, water and medical nutrition in the period made up for a 3% drop in fresh dairy, the group’s largest business being overhauled having been hit by falling sales in recent years.
Andrew Wood, an analyst at Bernstein, said the company’s aim of delivering consistency was being borne out in the first nine months of 2015, “nothing spectacular, but solid and consistent,” he said.
Danone said sales in its baby food unit grew 12%, boosted by exports to China where consumers are shunning locally produced brands to buy foreign-made formula on the Internet. The company earlier this year called time on its efforts to revive its flagship Dumex baby-formula in the country and said sales at the unit were down.
Its water division also reported a rise in sales of 12% despite saying it had entered a slower period of growth for non-alcoholic drinks in China.
The world’s largest yogurt maker said that sales in its core fresh dairy unit, representing around half of the company’s revenue, were up 0.6% on a like-for-like basis as the unit benefited from a drop in milk prices in Europe and the U.S. after years of increases that weighed on the business. “In Europe, we are working on a turnaround that should deliver a stabilization of sales in 2016,” said Danone’s Chief Financial Officer Cécile Cabanis.
Last week, competitor Nestlé SA reported a 2% fall in sales and lowered its guidance for organic sales growth, while Unilever said its revenue in the period increased as it sold more ice cream and performed well in emerging markets.
 
Source: WSJ
 

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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