Mondelez International has posted half-year results that have shown revenues of $19.4 billion, up 6.2% year-on-year, revealing a stabilising of its performance amid a backdrop of market headwinds, reports Neill Barston.

The Oreo and Milka bar manufacturer has, like much of the industry faced ongoing tests including the introduction of US import tariffs, and increases in operating costs as well as ingredients rises that have seen the business resort to instances of ‘shrinkflation’ in product development, along with other major manufacturers in a bid to mitigate increased business expenses.

This was most readily seen when the company lost a court case in March over its Milka brand, where it was found that it did not sufficiently display changes to the size of bars on product packaging when reducing their size.

However, despite such setbacks, the business has delivered consistent success with its Oreo brand, as well as additional launches across its portfolio that were released at this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo.

The company’s half year results produced encouraging figures for Latin America, where sales rose 15%, with $1.37billion sales in the region, with an 8% rise in Asia to $1.9bn, with North American sales up 3% to $2.6bn, while Europe suffered a 1% downturn to 3.3bn – which still remains its highest performing global territory.

“Our second quarter results were marked by robust top-line expansion, coupled with volume growth and share improvement, along with improved profitability. We delivered continued strength across our Emerging Markets, as well as strong growth and elevated execution in our North America business.

“In Europe, share dynamics are showing early positive trends, and we believe the business is well-positioned to build on that progress,” said Dirk Van de Put, Chair and Chief Executive Officer. 

“We are encouraged by the momentum in our business, and we remain focused on executional excellence coupled with reinvesting behind our brands to enable sustained performance for years to come.”