Danone mainly grows thanks to price increases

Danone’s third quarter turnover grew 16.6 % to 6.454 billion euro, although that surge was mainly thanks to its WhiteWave acquisition. The company would have achieved a 4.7 % like-for-like turnover increase otherwise.

Success of flavoured water

Turnover in Europe and North America grew 29.2 % overall, but there was a 0.2 % like-for-like turnover drop on the back of a 0.7 % volume drop. The performance was better in the rest of the world: like-for-like turnover grew 11.1 % and volumes went up 2 %. For the entire group, there was a 0.4 % volume growth, which indicates its increased turnover was mainly because of increased pricing.

Looking at the company’s separate divisions, water and “specialized nutrition” surged ahead: the former posted a 7.6 % like-for-like turnover growth and a 6.2 % volume growth. Flavoured waters even spiked more than 10 %. The specialized nutrition division, including children’s food, experienced a 17.8 % turnover and 9 % volume increase. Both divisions performed exceptionally well in China.

Dairy product sales lagged all across the world: there was a 2.2 % like-for-like turnover drop and a 2.7 % volume drop in North America. Despite a similar turnover drop in the rest of the world (- 2.3 %), volumes plummeted 7.4 %.