French food giant Danone Group has released its first-quarter financial report, revealing that despite facing challenges from an infant formula recall event and supply chain disruptions caused by Middle East conflicts, the company's sales still slightly surpassed market expectations, and it has reaffirmed its full-year performance guidance.
The financial report data shows that Danone achieved first-quarter sales of 6.708 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, which was higher than the market's expected growth of 2.6%. Volume/mix contributed 1.5% to growth, while pricing contributed 1.2%. However, this growth rate has slowed significantly compared to the 4.7% growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Looking at business segments, Essential Dairy and Plant-based products demonstrated the strongest performance, achieving 3.4% like-for-like growth; Specialized Nutrition grew by 1.9%, and Waters grew by 2.3%. Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region led with a growth rate of 6.0%, the Americas region grew by 3.4%, and Europe, Middle East & Africa grew by 0.6%.
The company's CEO stated in a declaration: "The first-quarter performance once again confirms the resilience, strength, and relevance of our health-focused business portfolio." He noted that volume/mix was positive across all categories, with particularly strong performance in categories such as high-protein products, Icelandic yogurt, and kefir.
Danone confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting like-for-like sales growth to be between 3% and 5%, with recurring operating profit growth projected to outpace sales growth.
Following the earnings release, Danone's stock price rose over 3% in Paris trading, reflecting investor confidence in the company's ability to navigate challenges.
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