Danone 3Q Sales Rise to EUR6.45 Billion

France's Danone SA (BN.FR) said Tuesday that its sales for the third quarter rose 4.7% to 6.45 billion euros ($7.61 billion) compared with the same period last year.

The French food company said that the 4.7% sales increase was on a like-for-like New Danone basis, which accounts for the company's acquisition of WhiteWave, and that its reported sales increase was 17%.

Danone acquired WhiteWave earlier this year for EUR8.81 billion in a deal that more than doubled its North American business.

Danone said that its North American essential-dairy-and-plant-based reported sales were down 2.2% in the third quarter on a like-for-like New Danone basis, including a 2.7% decrease in volumes. The company said that sales in Europe, excluding Alpro, improved slightly compared with the second quarter but still remained negative.

Emmanuel Faber, chief executive of Danone, said the integration of WhiteWave is on track and is starting to deliver results, and that the third-quarter sales increase "reflects the strength" of Danone's portfolio of consumer health-focused brands.

Danone confirmed its outlook for 2017 and said that it expects to deliver double-digit recurring earnings-per-share growth of more than 12% at a constant exchange rate. The company also said that it targets overall like-for-like sales growth of between 4% and 5% for 2020.

Write to Anthony Shevlin at anthony.shevlin@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2017 02:10 ET (06:10 GMT)