Mondelez Sales Fall but Higher Prices Bolster Results

By Patrick Thomas

Mondelez International Inc.'s sales fell 2.8% in its latest quarter, and the company blamed the decline on foreign-currency translation.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based maker of Oreo cookies, Wheat Thins and other snacks said its revenue dropped in the fourth quarter to $6.77 billion, in line with analysts estimates, from $6.97 billion a year earlier.

Comparable sales rose 2.5%, helped in part by higher prices and growth in emerging markets. In North America, comparable sales rose 0.8% and total revenue increased 1.6%.

Mondelez said in October that it would increase prices in North America this year, passing on rising costs for ingredients and transportation to retailers and consumers. Food and consumer-products companies have been raising prices in response to higher costs for items such as shipping.

Mondelez posted a profit of $826 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with $695 million, or 46 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned a profit of 63 cents a share, also in line with analysts' estimates.

For the full-year 2019, the company said it expects organic net revenue to increase between 2% and 3% and adjusted earnings to grow between 3% and 5%. The company estimates currency translation will trim about 3 percentage points from overall revenue growth.

Shares of Mondelez remained unchanged during after-hours trading.

Write to Patrick Thomas at Patrick.Thomas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2019 17:17 ET (22:17 GMT)

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