Danone, the owner of brands such as Activia, Evian, and Aptamil, saw its shares rise as much as 7% this morning after it delivered sales performance that beat analysts’ expectations.
During its first half period to 30 June, the French food giant’s overall like-for-like sales grew 4.2% to €13.7bn, driven by a 2.6% increase in volumes and a 1.7% rise in prices. This came after continued strong growth in its second quarter, with like-for-likes up 4.1% (+3.2% volume, +1.0% price).
Danone’s underlying operating profits rose by 3.7% in the half to €1.8bn after margins improved from 12.7% to 13.2%.
The company’s Chief Executive, Antoine de Saint-Affrique, noted that the strong results came after it started the next stage of its turnaround plan, implemented shortly after he took up the post in 2020.
“We started chapter two of the Renew Danone strategy with a strong performance, demonstrating consistency in driving quality growth and reflecting the strength and resilience of our health-focused portfolio,” he said.
“In a volatile and uncertain environment, we are consistently doubling down on our fundamentals, further fueling our winning platforms such as high protein, medical nutrition, Alpro and Aptamil, while moving forward with this next chapter of our strategy.”
The company reiterated that 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.
