FRANCE: Growth in dairy sees Danone sales rise | Progresiv
French dairy giant Danone has reported a rise in sales and profits in its 2015 full year results, coupled with a rise in sales for the fourth quarter in a row. The makers of international brands such as Actimel and Danone, said a boost in US sales, as well as water and baby food, were fundamental to sales performance. 
Sales for the three months ended Dec. 30 grew 2.2% to 5.38 billion euros from a year earlier despite being hurt by currency movements. This was higher than some analysts predicted. Danone reported 2015 net profit of 1.28 billion, up from 1.12 billion euros last year due to improved sales and lower financial costs.
Emmanuel Faber, chief executive, said: “Over the past 18 months, we have been making the changes necessary to take up the challenges of a new and ever changing world, as we pursue our purpose to provide pleasurable, healthier, sustainable hydration and eating options to our consumers each and every day. With organic growth of +4.4% and trading operating margin up +17 basis points like-for-like, our results are very solid and perfectly aligned with our objectives. They confirm that we have taken this mission to a new level, paving the way for strong, profitable and sustainable growth by 2020. We have further sharpened the consumer relevance of our brands, invested more in research and reshaped our organization for greater efficiency and deeper expertise. At the same time, we have enhanced our knowledge and capabilities to protect and grow our businesses, and have moved toward an optimal combination of more agility and discipline in our resource allocation and decision processes.”
“Our choices in 2015 delivered these solid results, which came from the combination of our businesses in both developed and emerging markets across all four of our categories,” he said. “In 2016, in a global context that remains volatile, Danone will continue to invest behind its brands and will mark a further important step to develop a balanced model of strong, profitable and sustainable growth.”
Danone’s 2016 targets include: sales growth within a range of +3% to +5%; and solid improvement of trading operating margin. (www.foodingredientsfirst.com)
