Mondelēz first-quarter results boosted by emerging markets

Mondelēz International recorded a 3.7% increase in organic net revenue in its first quarter compared to the same period last year as the company was boosted by its performance in emerging markets.

For the three months ended March 31, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolate said its organic net revenue, which is defined as net revenue excluding the impacts of acquisitions, divestitures and currency rate fluctuations, rose to $7.02 billion.

Organic net revenue in the firm’s Asia, Middle East & Africa unit was up 6.1%, while growth in North America was 0.5%.

However, reported net revenue for the quarter was down 3.4%, in part due to unfavourable currency impacts. Meanwhile, operating income was down 15.4% to $1.04 billion.

Mondelēz CEO Dirk Van de Put said: “Our strong start to the year demonstrates clear progress against our plans to accelerate volume-led growth by adopting a more consumer-centric and agile mindset.

“We continue to see solid fundamentals in our categories and key markets, including good momentum in emerging markets. Our progress reinforces our confidence that the investments we are making behind our global and local brands, our sales capabilities and our innovation will deliver sustainable long-term growth and create value for our shareholders.”

In an earnings call with investors, Dirk Van de Put added: “We had strong growth across most global brands, but I want to call out Oreo, our biggest brand, which grew double-digit, which is quite remarkable, and also Cadbury Dairy Milk, another one of our big brands, which grew high single-digit.”

During the quarter, Mondelēz bought a minority stake in Uplift Food, a producer of prebiotic functional food supplements, and joined forces with business incubator The Hatchery Chicago to increase innovation efforts in the snacking space.

Last month, the firm, through its SnackFutures programme, announced an investment in the company behind snack brand Hu Products.

For 2019, Mondelēz predicts organic net revenue growth of between 2% and 3%.