- Third-quarter like-for-like sales up 4.8% vs estimated 4.3%
- Keeps 2025 guidance of mid-term LFL sales growth at 3% to 5%
- China star performer, Europe improving, North America softer
PARIS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Danone reported on Tuesday third-quarter sales that beat expectations, boosted by strong demand in China for infant milk formula and medical nutrition products, largely offsetting weakness in coffee creamers in a competitive U.S. market.
The French consumer goods group, with brands from Evian and Badoit water to Activia yoghurt, said sales grew 4.8% on a like-for-like basis to 6.876 billion euros ($8.02 billion), beyond the figure of 4.3% in a company-provided analysts' consensus.
Danone reiterated its full-year 2025 forecast was in line with its mid-term ambition of like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 5%, with recurring operating income growing faster than sales.
'FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS'
The China, North Asia and Oceania region was Danone's stand-out performer, with like-for-like sales growth of 13.8%.
"In specialised nutrition, the Chinese business was again firing on all cylinders," said finance chief Jurgen Esser. "We have good reasons to believe China will deliver significant growth in coming quarters."
Danone experienced strong China growth in infant milk formula, medical nutrition and Mizone water, while Activia and Oikos in dairy delivered double-digit sales growth in Japan.
The quarterly performance, led by volume growth across all Danone categories, reflected "the strength and the relevance of our health-focused portfolio," CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique in a statement.
Danone, whose growing focus on health and science has helped it build resilience in a volatile environment, delivered quarterly sales growth that outpaced the 3.9% growth of rival Unilever and the 4.3% growth of Nestle.
"The bar was quite high this quarter but Danone have hit it," Barclays analysts said in a note. "China was a standout but what is equally pleasing is the sequential improvement in European volumes."
In Europe, Danone sales grew 2.6% in the quarter, driven by volumes, reflecting the good performance of Evian water and "functional" dairy products such as Danone Skyr, Activia Kefir and YoPro with high protein content.
However, North America delivered softer growth, with sales rising 1.5% like-for-like in the quarter, as demand for protein products such as the Oikos brand of Greek yoghurt helped offset weakness for coffee creamers in the United States.
($1=0.8575 euros)
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Alexander Marrow in London; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Clarence Fernandez
Source: Reuters