Mondelez’s Q1 Report Exceeds Forecasts

Mondelez International, owner of famous food brands like Oreo cookies, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, Toblerone chocolate, and Trident chewing gum, released its first quarter 2020 earnings report today. Revenues grew 2.6% overall, while organic net revenue figures were even better, increasing by 6.4% and beating some analyst forecasts by approximately USD100m.

The company reported net revenues of USD6.7bn for the quarter. While Europe generated the largest total amount of revenue at nearly USD2.6bn, revenue growth there was only 1.3% year over year. The dynamo driving Mondelez’s gains in this metric was the North American market, where revenue grew 15.1% year over year, likely driven by coronavirus related consumer stockpiling and skyrocketing sales of comfort food during the pandemic.

The gains in North America and Europe more than compensated for dropping first quarter revenues in Latin America, which posted a 9.3% decline over last year, and Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, where revenues sank 2.5%.

Chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put commented on the company’s first quarter performance by saying “We had a strong first quarter, with record market share gains, and executed very well in challenging circumstances, thanks to the dedication and commitment of our colleagues.”