Danone report sales of € 6.158 billion in the third quarter, up 5.8% from the third quarter last year. Sales in Europe and North America grew 3.9% like-for-like, driven by continued momentum in Essential Dairy and Plant-Based (EDP) and the recovery of Waters in Europe. Rest of World sales grew 3.7% like-for-like, led by the performance of Specialised Nutrition in China.
EDP reported Q3 2021 like-for-like sales growth of 4.1%, up 0.6% in volume and 3.5% in value. By geography, EDP’s sales in Europe and North America grew 4.3% on a like-for-like basis during the period. In Europe, Essential Dairy’s performance was driven by its probiotics and protein ranges, led by Actimel and YoPro, which delivered double-digit growth, and Activia, which showed strong momentum in the UK and Germany. Alpro had another quarter of double-digit growth, led by the recently launched oat range.
Despite short-term uncertainties, Danone expects the economy to gradually recover from the pandemic. In the short term, price inflation is expected to accelerate for milk, ingredients, packaging and logistics.
Danone expects to return to profitable growth in the second half of the year, with recurring operating margins in FY broadly in line with 2020.
