Mondelēz records strong quarterly growth boosted by key business acquisitions
Cadbury's Dairy Milk remains among the key chocolate brands for Mondelez International
Mondelēz International has posted a key upturn in financial results for its second quarter, with net revenues up 12.4% to $6.6 billion for the period, despite a backdrop of broader trading challenges, reports Neill Barston.
The global snacks and confectionery business, behind brands including Cadbury, Milka and Oreo, noted that its improved position was boosted by sales from major acquisitions of Hu, Grenade and Gourmet Food.
Significantly, Europe remained its strongest performing region, followed closely by the US and Asia – with the latter recording especially strong quarterly sales growth of 16.7% to (9.1% year-to-date in total), as the business continues to expand its international activities.
The company’s outlook for the remainder of 2021 projected growth of between 2-3% in net revenues, though noted that the continuing coronavirus pandemic introduced a degree of uncertainty for its projections.
As previously reported by Confectionery Production, the past year has proved especially notable for the company in terms of the breadth of its acquisitions, which have seen the business both respond to the wider growth in snacking, including healthier options, as well as record growth for its core brands.
Its measures to enhance sustainability across its operations have intensified, including calls last month along with other players in the sector, for the EU to adopt universal due diligence policies for cocoa supply sourcing, in a bid to further support farming communities in key producing nations in West Africa, as well as elsewhere around the world.
The business has also moved to further enhance recycling efforts in backing an industry initiative, the Flexible Plastic Fund, designed to make recycling more economically viable for recyclers and easier for consumers, as well as examining the operation of its UK sites in a bid to move towards renewable electricity.
Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer welcomed the latest results for the company. He said: “We delivered another strong quarter of performance across all key metrics, including top-line, profitability and cash generation. We continue to see strength across the vast majority of our geographies, categories and brands as we remain intensely focused on consistent execution and reinvestment to further strengthen our position.
“We are confident that our strategy, long runway of clear growth drivers and advantaged enablers will continue to drive consistent and attractive growth and value generation over the long term.”
