Danone's Profit, Sales Soured in 2018 -- Earnings Review

By Anthony Shevlin

Danone SA (BN.FR) reported its 2018 results today, including sales data for the fourth quarter.

NET PROFIT: Danone posted net profit for the year of 2.35 billion euros ($2.66 billion), which was down on the previous year's EUR2.45 billion. However, net profit still came in ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of EUR2.28 billion provided by the company.

SALES: The French food company's sales for the full year fell 0.7% on a reported basis to EUR24.65 billion, but like-for-like sales grew 2.9%. Sales for 2018 were in line with a consensus provided by Danone.

Sales in the fourth quarter were EUR6.01 billion compared with EUR6.14 billion the year previous.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

-Danone said the consumer boycott in Morocco had a negative effect on its net sales of EUR178 million compared with the previous year, mainly from losses in milk sales. "The consumer boycott in Morocco on the recurring operating income of Danone in 2018 was a decrease of EUR43 million versus 2017, including remediation measures," the company said.

-The company's guidance for 2019 is for like-for-like sales growth of around 3% and a recurring operating margin above 15%. Analysts at Jefferies say this is supportive of consensus.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2019 04:05 ET (09:05 GMT)

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