FRANCE: Danone expects tough year ahead after FY sales dip | Progresiv
Danone has said it expects tough conditions in 2015, even as it sales dipped slightly in 2014. For 2014, sales were down 0.8% to €21.1bn, although they rose by 4.7% on an organic basis. Net profit, meanwhile, dropped by 21% to €1.1bn, hurt by weak demand in certain categories and lower income from affiliated companies. 
New CEO Emmanuel Faber noted that Danone was seeing some improvements, as its revised strategy had resulted in growth in some key markets for the Actimel brand. However, he added: “We’re not satisfied with where we are in Europe. We need to get back to growth and that is on the agenda for 2015.”
Danone noted: “2014 was a year of political and economic turbulences, not to mention severe volatility—a taste of what awaits us in the years ahead”. It expects sales in Europe to remain “fragile”, and forecast operating margin for 2015 to only grow “slightly”, while underlying sales are expected to be up by 4% to 5%. (www.kamcity.com)
