Danone reports 4% sales growth in third quarter; COO Vikram Agarwal to retire

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Danone has reported a 4% increase in like-for-like (LFL) sales for the third quarter of 2026, reaching €7.23 billion, driven by growth across its three business categories and geographical regions.

Reported sales rose 5.2% compared with the same period last year. Price increases contributed 3.6 percentage points to LFL growth, while volume and mix added 0.4 percentage points.

The company’s specialised nutrition category recorded the strongest LFL growth, up 4.7% to €2.45 billion. Its Essential Dairy and Plant-based (EDP) business grew 3.6% to €3.41 billion, while waters sales increased 3.6% to €1.37billion.

In EMEA, sales rose 3.9%, supported by strong performance in EDP and waters. Danone reported growth in France, Spain and the UK, driven by its Danone, Alpro, Activia and High Protein brands. Waters also benefited from a strong season, with Volvic delivering double-digit growth.

Sales in the Americas increased 4.4%, with specialised nutrition delivering strong results through brands including Aptamil, Neocate and Kate Farms. Waters also performed well, supported by Evian in North America and improved momentum in Mexico.

Within North America, LFL sales grew 2.4%. Danone said it had taken action to restore performance in its EDP business, focusing on execution and strengthening its product innovation pipeline beyond high-protein products. New leadership has also been appointed to oversee its US business, reporting to Henri Bruxelles, the president of the Americas region.

In Asia Pacific, sales increased 3.6%. Specialised nutrition and EDP continued to perform well, particularly in Indonesia, India and Japan. However, waters sales in the region declined 7.5%, affected by a poor season for Mizone amid adverse weather conditions. Danone said the decline reduced group LFL sales growth by approximately one percentage point in the quarter.

Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone, said: “We delivered another strong quarter in Q3, with like-for-like sales up +4%, reflecting broad-based momentum across categories and geographies”.

He added that demand remained strong for the company’s health-focused products, including high-protein, gut health and medical nutrition offerings.

Danone confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting LFL sales growth of between 3% and 5%, with recurring operating income forecast to grow faster than sales.

The results follow Danone’s completion of its acquisition of complete nutrition brand Huel in September. Huel has been consolidated into the company’s financial statements since 1 September 2026.

Separately, Danone said its chief operations officer, Vikram Agarwal, would retire in early 2027 after nearly four decades working in supply chain and operations, including five years at the company. He will continue in his role until then to support the transition.