Mondelez International chief Irene Rosenfeld has admitted the Cadbury and Oreo owner is “disappointed” its 2013 results fell below expectations.
Rosenfeld said the snacks giant had posted “solid” sales and “strong” market share but acknowledged the company’s performance had fallen below what it and investors had originally hoped.
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“In our first full year as a global snacking company, we delivered solid revenue growth and strong market share performance in the face of a significant slowdown in our categories as 2013 progressed,” Rosenfeld said. “At the same time, we accelerated investments in emerging markets, strengthened our balance sheet and returned $3.6 billion of cash to our shareholders. Nevertheless, we’re disappointed that our results were below what we and our shareholders originally expected.”
2013 ended with a set of fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street forecasts.
Mondelez saw its net income for the three months to the end of December more than double to US$1.78bn in 2013, boosted by a settlement between Starbucks and the snacks group’s predecessor company Kraft Foods.
However, adjusted earnings per share fell below analyst expectations. Earnings reached $0.42 a share; according to data from Barclays Capital, the consensus analyst forecast was for earnings of $0.44 a share.
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By GlobalDataMondelez shares fell by 2.92% in after-hours trading to $32.24.
Operating profit was up 5.3% at $1.01bn on the back of an improvement in sales volume and mix.
Net sales dipped 0.1% to $9.49bn but, on an organic basis, revenues increased 2.5% amid growth in India, Russia and Brazil.
However, sales in China slumped at a “double-digit” rate due to “a weak biscuit performance”, Mondelez said.
