Danone Profit Falls; Sees Raw Material Inflation Remaining Strong
15 Februar 2012 - 8:49AM
Dow Jones News
French dairy and bottled water company Danone SA (BN.FR)
Wednesday said that raw material inflation should remain strong as
it reported a fall in full-year profit, due to the integration of
Russia's Unimilk and a rise in the cost of debt, while gains from
minority interests fell.
"For 2012, the Group expects no significant improvement or
decline in the macro-economic environment from the second half of
2011," said the company in a statement.
Net profit in 2011 came out at EUR1.67 billion, down from
EUR1.88 billion a year earlier, while sales rose 13.6% on a
reported basis to EUR19.32 billion from EUR17.01 billion, boosted
by the acquisition of UniMilk and strong growth in emerging
markets.
Annual underlying net profit, the company's preferred measure of
earnings which excludes non-recurrent income and expenses, rose
4.5% to EUR1.75 billion, from EUR1.67 billion in 2010, broadly in
line with analyst expectations of EUR1.74 billion.
Danone, which sells Evian and Volvic bottled water, said that it
expects an increase of between 5% and 7% in net sales on a
like-for-like basis for 2012, with a stable full-year trading
operating margin and a continued rise in free cash flow, which
should reach EUR2 billion.
Like many consumer goods companies, Danone has seen slower
earnings growth from mature economies, where shoppers' income is
under pressure from tax hikes and public spending cuts, rising
unemployment and below-inflation pay rises. Earlier this month,
Anglo-Dutch Unilever PLC (UL) warned of a difficult year ahead in a
struggling global economy marked by sluggish demand in Europe and
North America but growth in developing markets.
Danone's earnings before interest and taxes grew 9.2%
like-for-like to EUR2.84 billion from EUR2.6 billion a year
earlier, corresponding to an operating margin of 14.72%, down from
15.6% a year earlier, hit by lower margins in recently purchased
UniMilk unit, but up 20 percentage points on a like-for-like
basis.
On a like-for-like basis, excluding acquisitions and at constant
exchange rate, sales rose 7.8%, in line with the company's guidance
of between 6% and 8%, driven by a 3% increase at its main dairy
division, which includes the Activia and Actimel brands, and 23.3%
growth in its waters division.
In the three months to Dec. 31, organic revenue increased 7.8%
compared with 2010, outpacing third-quarter organic growth of 5.9%.
Swiss peer Nestle (NESN.VX) reports earnings Thursday.
Danone shares closed Tuesday at EUR48.99, valuing the company at
EUR31.5 billion. The shares have risen around 4% over the past six
months, in line with the CAC-40 index.
-By Nadya Masidlover, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1754;
nadya.masidlover@dowjones.com
Unilever NV (NYSE:UN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024
Unilever NV (NYSE:UN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024