Danone’s chief executive has hailed the FMCG’s “good start to the year”, after the company posted stronger-than-expected sales.
Net sales hit £5.8bn (€6.8bn) in the first quarter of 2024 for the food and drink manufacturer, an increase of 4.1% on a like-for-like basis, and in keeping with its target for like-for-like 2024 sales growth between 3% and 5%.
In Europe, like-for-like sales were also up 2.8% to £2bn (€2.33bn), with volume growth of just 0.1%.
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Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique praised the company’s performance adding that despite a “challenging environment”, it had continued “making good progress on our transformation agenda, strengthening our category fundamentals, intentionally driving our winning mixes and geographies.”
“We are confident that 2024 will be another year where we deliver on our value creation model.”
Last month Danone, which owns brands such as Activia, Aptamil and Evian, was granted the regulatory approvals it needed to dispose of its Russian division in a move expected to cost the FMCG company £1bn.
The food manufacturer said the transfer of its Russian essential dairy and plant-based business to Vamin R LLC should be completed in the coming weeks.
Earlier this year, Danone announced it would be slowing price increases in 2024 after reporting a a 3.1% profit rise in 2023.
