China's baby boom helps to drive revenue growth at Danone

By Laura Mullan
Danone reported that its first-quarter revenue was up by nearly 5%, driven by increasing demand for its infant formula products as a result of China’s...

Danone reported that its first-quarter revenue was up by nearly 5%, driven by increasing demand for its infant formula products as a result of China’s baby boom.

The French multinational group reported first-quarter revenue of $7.53bn, exceeding analyst expectations. 

Danone said that the increase was due to a “very strong” performance of the company’s infant formula in China, where like-for-like sales growth increased by over 50%. 

On top of this, probiotics, organic, kids and plant-based products also performed well.

SEE ALSO:

The world’s largest yoghurt maker, with brands including Actimel and Activia, also said that it had seen an uptick in dairy sales in Europe and noted signs of growth in North America.

Last year Danone acquired soy-milk maker Whitewave for US$10bn in a bid to expand its portfolio in the fast-growing organic food and drinks market following a sluggish performance in its largest business line, yoghurt and fresh dairy. 

The French firm reiterated that it expects to see a double-digit rise in 2018 underlying earning per share (EPS), excluding the impact of the sale of a stake in Japanese probiotic drink Yakult. 

"We are reaffirming our confidence in the agility of our model to navigate a volatile environment to deliver our 2018 guidance and to accelerate towards our 2020 ambition," said chief executive Emmanuel Faber in a statement.
 

Share

Featured Articles

Top 10 customer experience (CX) trends in 2023

Food Digital breaks down the Top 10 customer experience (CX) trends taking centre stage for 2023, including predictive analytics, AR, metaverse and more

Absolut joins the sustainable drink trend with paper bottle

Sustainability is driving brand changes at Absolut as the drinks brand focuses on delivering new designs and a sustainable paper-based recyclable packaging

Careers Passport: flagship programme to help jobseekers

A fast-track job scheme designed to remove barriers to enter the food and drink industry has seen over 1,000 training opportunities created.

Coca-Cola, Diginex & Reckitt tech to support supply chains

Drink

Luxury food manufacturer Venchi on sustainable packaging

Food

How has the pandemic affected sales at General Mills?

Food