Danone Beats First-Quarter Forecasts: net sales were up +4.1%
Despite persisting market challenges, Danone continued its strategic transformation, reinforcing category fundamentals and strategically expanding its winning mixes and geographical presence. This included successful portfolio adjustments such as the divestment of Horizon Organic and Wallaby in the US, as well as Michel & Augustin.
Confident in sustaining value creation, Danone looks ahead to its Capital Market Event in Amsterdam in June, where further advancements in the Renew Danone initiative will be discussed.
Performance Highlights:
In Q1 2024, consolidated sales reached €6.8 billion, marking a 4.1% increase on a like-for-like basis. This growth was driven by a 1.2% rise in volume/mix and a 2.9% increase in price. However, reported sales experienced a 2.5% decline, primarily due to the negative impact fr om scope (-5.0%) resulting from the deconsolidation of EDP Russia, as well as adverse effects from foreign exchange (-3.2%). Hyperinflation contributed positively (+1.7%) to reported sales.
Segmental Sales Overview:
Europe: Like-for-like sales grew by 2.8%, supported by a 2.8% increase in price and a marginal improvement of 0.1% in volume/mix. Notable performances were seen in EDP, particularly with Actimel, Activia, YoPro, and Alpro brands. Specialized Nutrition and Waters segments also demonstrated resilient growth.
North America: Like-for-like sales increased by 2.5%, with volume/mix and price contributing 1.5% and 1.0%, respectively. Strong performances were observed in Coffee Creations and High Protein Yogurts, while the Plant-based segment showed promising signs of progress.
China, North Asia & Oceania: Achieved a remarkable 8.9% like-for-like sales growth, driven by a 6.9% increase in volume/mix and a 2.0% rise in price. Notably, Specialized Nutrition maintained its competitive momentum, and Mizone experienced significant double-digit growth.
Latin America: Sales grew by 4.1%, primarily propelled by a 6.8% increase in price, although volume/mix declined by 2.6%. Strong growth in Waters, particularly with Bonafont, drove performance, while EDP faced volume/mix challenges in Brazil.
Rest of the World: Like-for-like sales increased by 6.0%, with price and volume/mix contributing 4.9% and 1.0%, respectively. Specialized Nutrition demonstrated resilient growth across Asia and the Middle East.
Danone remains optimistic about its outlook for 2024, buoyed by its solid performance and strategic initiatives across diverse markets.
Antoine de Saint-Affrique: CEO statement
We have delivered a good start to the year, with yet another quarter of quality growth and consistent delivery on our Renew Danone agenda: net sales were up +4.1% on a like-for-like basis and volume/mix up +1.2%, with all categories positively contributing.
In what remains a challenging environment, we continued making good progress on our transformation agenda, strengthening our category fundamentals, intentionally driving our winning mixes and geographies while delivering on portfolio rotation with the successful closing of the disposals of our milk and dairy activity Horizon Organic and Wallaby in the US and Michel & Augustin.
We are confident that 2024 will be another year wh ere we deliver on our value creation model. With that in mind, we look forward to talking more about the next chapter of Renew Danone at our Capital Market Event in Amsterdam in June.
