Mondelez International (MDLZ +0.83%), 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%. Earnings per share, or EPS, present a slightly more complex picture due to "unfavorable currency impacts."
According to Zack's research, analyst consensus pegged EPS at $0.65 before the quarterly report, the same earnings the company reported for first quarter 2019. As reported, diluted, GAAP EPS is $0.52 per share, or 13 cents less than the estimate reported by Zack's. However, adjusted, non-GAAP EPS is $0.69 for the period when calculated on a constant-currency basis, beating expectations by 4 cents. Revenue also beat some analyst forecasts by approximately $100 million.
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The company reported net revenues of $6.7 billion for the quarter. While Europe generated the largest total amount of revenue at nearly $2.6 billion, 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."
