Danone saw as-reported sales down 1.9% but like-for-like sales up 2.9% in 2016. Recurring operating income was ahead 4.5% and 8.4% respectively, and recurring net income rose 6.7%/10.4%.

“With the upcoming addition of WhiteWave, we will soon start a whole new and exciting chapter of our alimentation revolution journey,” said CEO Emmanuel Faber. “While we delivered a robust performance leading to a very strong recurring EPS growth in 2016, the challenges we faced, including a slower turnaround of dairy in Europe and major market volatility, are a clear case to step up in our ability to seize consumer opportunities and improve our efficiency.”

“Todays announced changes will drive horizontal collaboration and vertical delegation across our entire organization, making us more agile to grow, closer to consumers, and driving consistency in resource allocation. On one hand, I have decided to address our efficiency agenda in a radically new way, and to launch a comprehensive, company-wide program allowing us to spend better and more sustainably and to work more efficiently. On the other hand, fuelled by resources generated from higher efficiency, our new integrated growth and innovation process will gradually bring our brands into an entirely new level of relevance with their communities of consumers, which is the core of the alimentation revolution.”

“These decoupled mid-term growth and short-term efficiency agendas, linked by our seamless resource allocation process, will allow us to reach both our short and mid-term financial objectives, beyond the benefits of the future WhiteWave acquisition.”