Mondelēz confident after mixed Q1

Snack giant Mondelēz International has said it is confident in its outlook after posting a mixed first-performance as both profit and margins improved, while sales declined.

Net earnings reached $557 million for the three months to 31 March, up 78.5% from $312m in the prior year period.

Net revenues fell 16.8% to $6.5bn, weighed down in part by currency headwinds. By region, Latin America was the worst performer, falling 35%, while Europe were down 23.1%, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa dropped 21.3%. Asia Pacific slipped 2.3% and North America edged down 0.4%.

Gross margin increased 1.4 percentage points to 39.3%.

Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld says, “We’ve had a good start to the year. We significantly expanded margins by continuing to reduce supply chain and overhead costs.

“In addition, we delivered improved volume/mix in developed markets, while effectively managing through the volatile operating environment in emerging markets. As a result, we’re confident in our ability to deliver our 2016 outlook that we shared in February.”