Oreo maker Mondelez's results beat on gains from Europe, Latin America
(Reuters) - Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ.O) beat Wall Street's profit and revenue estimates in the third quarter as demand for its key brands such as Oreo cookies and Trident gum rose in Europe and Latin America and the company cut costs.
Shares of the world's second largest confectionary company rose 4.9 percent to $41.20 (31.20 pounds)in after-market trading on Monday.
Mondelez's organic revenue, a measure that excludes currency fluctuations, grew 3.2 percent in Europe and 5.4 percent in Latin America in the quarter that marks the end of Irene Rosenfeld's tenure as its chief executive officer.
The company said its performance in Europe was helped by strong chocolate sales in Germany and the U.K.
However, sales in North America, its second largest market, remains a concern for the packaged goods company.
Net revenue from North America rose 1.3 percent but lagged behind its smaller rival Hershey (HSY.N), which posted a 1.6 percent rise in sales in the region in October.
North America is the only region performing below expectations but the company is confident in improving it in the future, Rosenfeld said in the earnings call.
The company said McCain Foods CEO Dirk Van de Put will take over on Nov. 20 from Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld's departure comes after years of consistent decline in sales for Mondelez, which was formed from a spin-off of Kraft's North America grocery business in 2012 - a move that she engineered.
The snack giant said on Monday it is recovering from last quarter's cyber attack that hurt shipment volumes and has led to $100 million loss in revenue for the full year.
Total organic net revenue rose 2.8 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30 and the recovery in shipment volumes contributed 0.6 percent to it.
Organic net revenue from its key brands, such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka chocolate and Oreo cookies, rose 3.8 percent in the quarter, compared with a 2.5 percent rise, a year earlier.
The company, which is planning to cut about $3 billion in cost by 2018 end, slashed its costs by 14.3 percent to $1.33 billion in the reporting quarter.
Net income attributable to Mondelez rose 81 percent to $992 million, or 65 cents per share, in the quarter, helped by one-time gains and taxes
Excluding items, it earned 57 cents a share and revenue rose 2.1 percent to $6.53 billion.
Analysts on average had expected the company to report a profit of 54 cents per share on revenue of $6.45 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
