BN Danone

   By Giulia Petroni 
 

Danone SA said Tuesday that sales in the first quarter rose, driven by Europe and North America, while it withdrew full-year guidance due to the coronavirus.

The French food company said sales came in at 6.24 billion euros ($6.78 billion) compared with EUR6.14 billion in the previous year period. Sales rose 1.7% on a reported basis and 3.7% on a like-for-like basis.

A FactSet-compiled consensus had forecast sales at EUR6.17 billion in the quarter.

"First-quarter like-for-like sales growth is ahead of the expectations set by the company earlier in the year," Danone said.

The growth was partly attributed to a sales rise in March, boosted by the short-term effects of both a shift to at-home consumption as well as pantry loading in Europe and North America.

Danone's water division registered a decline of 6.8% like-for-like, while the essential diary and plant-based business grew 4.6%. Specialized nutrition recorded a growth of 7.9% on a like-for-like basis.

Danone withdrew its guidance on recurring earnings per share growth, like-for-like sales growth and recurring operating margin for 2020 due to coronavirus-related uncertainties.

The company said it is currently not able to accurately assess the impact of Covid-19 on its 2020 financial performance, but it expects the second quarter to be deeply hit by global lockdowns.

The company said it remains committed to its climate investment plan, but the timing of some initiatives may be slightly pushed back as a result of the short-term disruption from coronavirus.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2020 01:52 ET (05:52 GMT)

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