PARIS (Reuters) – Danone reported a 4.8% like-for-like increase in third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, beating expectations, and confirmed its 2025 targets, citing its performance in China, North Asia and Oceania, largely offsetting weakness in coffee creamers in a competitive U.S. market.

The turnover reached 6.88 billion euros over the period. Analysts expected like-for-like growth of 4.3%, according to a consensus provided by Danone.

The agri-food group has confirmed its objectives for the current year, in particular a growth in turnover on a comparable basis of between 3% and 5%, with growth in current operating profit faster than that of turnover.

At the same time, the owner of Activia yogurts and Evian water raised its prices by 1.6%, compared to a 1.4% increase according to consensus.

The quarterly performance, driven by volume growth across all Danone categories, reflects “the strength and relevance of our health-focused portfolio,” said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, the group’s chief executive in a statement.

Danone, thanks to its focus on health and science, recorded quarterly sales growth higher than that of Unilever which reached 3.9%, and Nestlé, up 4.3%.

China, North Asia and Oceania were the best performing regions, with sales growth of 13.8%.

Specialty Nutrition, including infant formula and Medical Nutrition, as well as waters with Mizone, supported performance in China, while Activia and Oikos posted double-digit growth in Japan.

In Europe, Danone continued its improvement with revenue growth of +2.6% on a like-for-like basis, driven by an increase in volume/mix.

This reflects the strong performance of Evian waters and protein-rich “functional” dairy products, including Danone Skyr, Activia Kefir and YoPro.

However, in North America, growth was more modest, with sales up 1.5% on a like-for-like basis, as demand for protein products such as Oikos Greek yogurt helped offset weakness in coffee creamers in the United States.

(Writing by Elena Smirnova and Dominique Vidalon, editing by Kate Entringer)

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