Danone 1Q Sales Rose; Sees Growth Accelerating from 2Q

   By Anthony Shevlin 
 

Danone SA (BN.FR) said Wednesday that sales in the first quarter rose despite tough comparisons, and that it expects growth to accelerate further from the second quarter.

The French food company, known for its Activia and Actimel brands, said sales came to 6.14 billion euros ($6.94 billion) compared with EUR6.09 billion the year previous.

Sales rose 0.8% on a like-for-like basis and reported sales rose 0.9%. Like-for-like sales in Danone's waters unit rose 3.9%, the company said.

Emmanuel Faber, chief executive of Danone, said: "We are pleased with the momentum of the business, which will become increasingly visible from the second quarter. This gives us every confidence that we will meet our full-year guidance."

The company confirmed its outlook for 2019 and is aiming for like-for-like sales growth of around 3% and a recurring operating margin above 15%.

Danone said the sale of its Earthbound Farm business, which it completed earlier this month, will contribute to an improvement of the recurring operating margin in 2019 and will lead to a nonrecurring loss of around $100 million, which will be fully recorded in the first half.

Write to Anthony Shevlin at [e-mail]; @anthony_shevlin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2019 01:49 ET (05:49 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.