Danone has reported a 3.4% growth in like-for-like sales for 2021 against a difficult market backdrop due to inflationary pressures.
In its full-year results for 2021, the global food and drink company recorded stronger-than-expected net sales of almost €24.3 billion.
Despite an “increasingly volatile supply and cost environment”, Danone said that the firm returned to profitable growth in the second half of the year “thanks to productivity step-up, pricing actions and mix management”.
The report shows that the company experienced “strong growth” of 6.7% on a like-for-like basis in the final quarter of the year.
Danone results
Last March, Danone, which is the world’s biggest yogurt maker, announced that it was to replace its CEO and chairman.
In a statement included in the annual results report, new CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique outlined that the company still had much more to do to improve its position.
However, he said that the next steps for its “growth and renewal journey” would not be revealed until a capital market day on March 8, next.
The CEO noted that “all categories” within the company contributed to the solid performance seen last year.
“We delivered on our commitment to return to profitable growth in H2, with recurring operating margin at 13.7% in 2021. This was enabled by a strong focus on execution and a step-up in productivity, a pro-active approach to pricing and the disciplined implementation of Local First,” de Saint-Affrique said.
The local first strategy saw the company push decisions to a more local level across five regions. The move, which included jobs losses, was in response to market difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Danone CEO thanked all Danone employees “who have brought in these results in unprecedented and challenging circumstances”.
The French firm employs hundreds of people in bases located in Wexford, Dublin and Cork.