Danone benefits from price increases, raises sales forecast again

The French food company Danone has once again raised its sales forecast for the current year after growth accelerated in the third quarter.
Comparable sales are expected to increase by 7% to 8% this year, the company announced in Paris on Thursday, above the previous estimate of 5% to 6%.
The operating margin target of more than 12% was confirmed.
The manufacturer of Activia yogurts and Evian water had already raised its sales forecast at the end of July as consumers continue to swallow the firm's rising prices.
In the third quarter, sales rose by 19.1% to €7.3 billion ($7.3 billion). On a like-for-like basis, the rise was 9.5%.
The increase in sales was solely price-driven, and price increases contributed 10.9% of the quarterly revenue growth.
Volume sold, on the other hand, decreased by 1.4%. Adjusted for the Russian business, it declined by 0.2%. Danone announced in mid-October that it intended to divest the majority of its Russian business and held out the prospect of a write-down of up to €1 billion.