First Quarter 2017
Low start to the year, in line with expectations : LFL sales growth at +0.7% (+3.0% in reported)
WhiteWave Acquisition
Key mid-term value creation metrics confirmed
Expected 2017 recurring EPS accretion upgraded from “solid” to “strong”
Upgraded 2017 guidance
Double-digit recurring EPS growth at constant exchange rates (compared to the 3.10€ recurring EPS reported in 2016)
CEO EMMANUEL FABER’S COMMENTS:
“Q1 has been an important time for all teams at Danone. As anticipated, sales are showing a slow start to the year. In a continued volatile environment, we have made progress on our key priorities across our categories. In particular, to address headwinds and sub-optimal execution in the Fresh Dairy category in Europe, which sequentially impacted our performance, we continue to adapt our plans. In addition, in a matter of only a few weeks, we simplified our global organization, and localized further our decision-making. This new organization allowed us to decouple the company’s growth & efficiency agenda, with the Protein program launched to support both our short term results and our growth journey.
At the same time we are entering into a new chapter with the acquisition of WhiteWave. With leading positions in some of the fastest-growing, health-focused global categories, this combination will drive our Alimentation Revolution, our business performance, and will accelerate our 2020 profitable growth journey. I am particularly impressed with the performance of Alpro in Europe, which paves the way to a successful rollout across many more countries in the future. In the US, last week's closing ended a prolonged process which caused growing managerial and business disruptions in a low growth context for the food sector. The combined experience and capabilities of the DanoneWave management team and the extensive work done by the integration team since July will fully deliver our synergy plan from day 1, address the current business challenges, and capture the business opportunities ahead starting from H2.
I am therefore fully confident that we will drive strong value creation from the WhiteWave acquisition, and deliver the attractive financial benefits we outlined last July. Reflecting this in the short term, we are now upgrading our Danone FY 2017 guidance to double-digit recurring EPS growth at constant exchange rate. 2017 is a year of construction that will strengthen Danone as an even more resilient company, best prepared to seize tomorrow's opportunities, with the right portfolio of products and brands to serve our consumers meaningfully in a balanced array of geographies. And with fully committed teams”.
