Danone 3Q Sales Rose; Reiterates 2021 Guidance

   By Giulia Petroni 
 

Danone SA said Tuesday that sales rose in the third quarter, with strong growth across geographies, and reiterated guidance for the full year.

The French food company said quarterly sales came in at 6.16 billion euros ($7.14 billion) compared with EUR5.82 billion for the previous-year period. An analysts' consensus compiled by the company had forecast the figure at EUR6.06 billion.

On a like-for-like basis, sales increased 3.8% on year.

Danone's essential dairy and plant-based business continued to experience strong momentum, particularly in Europe and North America, but the plant-based portfolio suffered the impact of supply and logistic disruptions in the quarter.

The waters business recorded mid-single-digit growth in Europe, benefiting from improved out-of-home mobility, while specialized nutrition was driven by adult nutrition and saw return to growth of infant milk formula in China.

The company backed its 2021 guidance and said it expects to return to profitable growth in the second half of the year and for recurring operating margin to be broadly in line with the previous year.

Danone also said it expects a broad-based acceleration of inflation in milk, ingredients, packaging and logistics.

"What started as increased inflation on material costs evolved into widespread constraints impacting our supply chain in many parts of the world," said Chief Financial Officer Juergen Esser.

"That said, we are putting even greater focus on productivity and pricing actions to mitigate the impact on our performance," he said.

Write to Giulia Petroni at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2021 01:51 ET (05:51 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.