Danone reports rise in Q3 sales

French dairy company Danone reported 10.5% increase in its sales to €4.81bn ($6.61bn) for the third quarter of 2011, up from €4.35bn ($5.97bn) in the same period in 2010.

Danone said sales in Europe did not change much, even though demand for its products in Asia and the rest of the world soared.

Organic growth in sales, excluding the impact of exchange rates, and revenues from recently acquired units, meant an increase of 5.9%, which represents 1.5% increase in volume and 4.4% increase in value.

Fresh Dairy division sales increased 3.5% like-for-like, reflecting a 1.5% decrease in volume and a 5% increase in value.

The Baby Nutrition division continued its strong trend with sales up 10.5%, based on 5.5% volume growth and rising sales in all regions, with Indonesia, China, the Middle East, the UK and Turkey acting as the division’s top drivers.

Medical Nutrition sales were up 9.8%, driven primarily by volume growth of 9.4%, which was driven by China, Brazil, the Netherlands, the UK and Turkey.

Sales for the first nine months of 2011 were up 14.3% and the organic growth in sales was up 7.7%, compared with the previous year.