Wimm-Bill-Dann Sees Surge in Q1

Group revenue in the first quarter of 2010 increased 19.1% versus the same period a year ago to US$615.3 million, driven by volume growth across dairy, beverages, and baby food and a favourable exchange rate.

4 Jun 2010 --- Russian dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. Group revenue increased 19.1% year-on-year to US$615.3 million driven by solid volume growth across all segments and helped by a stronger ruble. Group gross profit increased 2.3% year-on-year to US$172.0 million. Group gross margin declined to 28.0% from 32.5% compared to prior year as a result of sharp increases in raw milk costs in the first quarter of 2010. Group net income almost tripled to US$33.7 million from US$12.6 million a year ago. Net income as a percentage of sales increased to 5.5% in the first quarter of 2010 from 2.4% in the same period last year. EBITDA increased to US$73.5 million compared to US$73.1 million in the first quarter last year.

“Wimm-Bill-Dann achieved a solid start to 2010 with strong sales growth driven by volume improvements across dairy, beverages, and baby food,” said Tony Maher, Wimm-Bill-Dann’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are not just benefiting from demand recovery, we are gaining market share in all three segments outperforming the market. As we indicated earlier, the disruption in the supply of raw milk we saw in the fourth quarter of last year continued into the first quarter, impacting our profitability in the dairy segment in the short-term, but the fundamentals of this market are solid nonetheless.”

“Group revenue in the first quarter of 2010 increased 19.1% versus the same period a year ago to US$615.3 million, driven by volume growth across dairy, beverages, and baby food and a favourable exchange rate. Group revenue in rubles increased 4.9% in the first quarter of 2010 versus the same period a year ago.” “The first quarter was a good start to the year as our strategy of focusing on generating profitable growth coupled with sound financial discipline is paying dividends,” Tony Maher concluded.