Danone sees sales improve in Q2 | Progresiv
Danone has reported an acceleration in sales growth for the second quarter, helped by improved results in China. 
The dairy giant said sales were up 1.3% to 6.5 billion euros, on like-for-like growth of 2.5%, although volumes were down by 1%. Meanwhile, underlying operating profit rose by 4.2% to 1.9 billion euros (+4.2% organic basis), while underlying net profit was up 7.8% to 1.22 billion euros, driven by efficiency savings.
The company’s Essential Dairy & Plant division saw sales edge up 0.8% to 3.3 billion euros, on LFL growth of 2.2%, even as volumes declined by 1.2%. It reported slightly positive growth in Europe, helped by improved results in France and Spain.
The Specialized Nutrition division recorded a 1.9% rise in sales to 1.9 billion euros, on LFL growth of 3.2%, as volumes were down 1.3%. This was driven by a better performance of its Advanced Medical Nutrition unit and moderate growth at Early Life Nutrition, which was boosted by the first rise in sales in China in four quarters.
And the Danone Waters unit saw sales grow by 1.6% to 1.35 billion euros, on LFL growth of 2.1%, with volumes edging down 0.4%. The results were led by “solid” growth in Asia and Latin America, which offset slight weakness in Europe.
CEO Emmanuel Faber noted: “I was pleased to see top-line accelerating in the second quarter, with growth across all our businesses. The innovation momentum remains strong, while we have addressed most of the underperformers in our portfolio. Our margin improvement was of high quality, driven by gross margin progression, and further savings from our Protein efficiency-program.” (www.kamcity.com)
