BN Danone

By Giulia Petroni

Danone SA on Wednesday said sales rose in the first quarter despite a highly volatile operating environment and backed guidance for the full year.

The French food company reported sales of 6.24 billion euros ($6.73 billion) in the period compared with EUR5.66 billion a year ago. Sales rose 10.2% on a reported basis and 7.1% on a like-for-like basis.

An analysts' consensus provided by Danone had forecast sales at EUR6.11 billion.

Danone's waters division registered a sales increase of 15.9% on a like-for-like basis during the quarter, while sales at specialized nutrition grew 9.5%. The essential dairy and plant-based business reported a 3.6% organic rise in sales.

"Growth was broadbased across geographies and categories, and benefited from a positive contribution from both price and mix," Chief Financial Officer Juergen Esser said. "Volumes held well especially in North America and Europe as we continued to navigate a highly volatile and inflationary environment."

Danone confirmed it expects like-for-like sales growth between 3% and 5% and a recurring operating margin above 12% in the full year, supported by pricing actions to offset inflation and assuming a mid-teens level of input cost inflation.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2022 01:57 ET (05:57 GMT)

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