“Our first-half performance shows the relevance of our strategic road map in today’s new reality and demonstrates our swift and disciplined execution behind it, making the right choices at the right time,” said Paul Bulcke, chief executive officer. “We continue to drive innovation globally, ranging from popularly positioned products to super premium offerings. We are continually opening new routes to market to reach emerging consumers and using new media to increase both our direct engagement with consumers and our return on brand investment. This approach has delivered profitable growth in both emerging and developed markets. Our first-half top line growth and our trading operating profit margin, together with our focus on capital efficiency, allow us to reconfirm our full-year outlook.”
Zone Americas had a trading operating profit of 2,334 million Swiss francs ($2,390 million), up 5% from 2,215 million Swiss francs during the same period of the previous year. Sales for the region were 13,419 million Swiss francs ($13,741 million), up 5% from 12,769 million Swiss francs during the same period of the previous year.
The company said it anticipates a tough trading environment in developed markets in the second half of the year, but it still anticipates delivering 5% to 6% organic growth.
