Danone Confirms Its Forecast for the Year After First-Quarter Revenues Exceed Expectations. The French Food Company Recorded Growth in All Regions and Categories in Both Volume and Price.

The company announced on Thursday that it expects revenue growth on a comparable basis between 3% and 5% for the year 2024 and predicts a moderate improvement in recurring operating margin.

In the first quarter, revenues increased by 4.1% on a comparable basis, driven by price growth of 2.9% and volume growth of 1.2%. The market forecasts compiled by Danone had predicted growth of 3.4%, split into 2.7% price and 0.8% volume increase.

On a reported basis, revenues fell to 6.79 billion euros in the quarter compared to 6.96 billion euros in the same period last year. However, they were above the market estimate of 6.695 billion euros, based on the estimates of 17 analysts.

Danone reports a solid start to the year in Europe and North America, where prices normalized and comparable sales growth of 2.8% and 2.5% were recorded, respectively.

The Business Sectors Waters and Specialized Nutrition recorded comparable basis revenue growth of 8.1% and 3.8% respectively, while the business with essential dairy and plant-based products grew by 3.0%.

"In a still challenging environment, we have made good progress on our transformation agenda," said CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique.