Dive Brief:
- Mondelez International beat Wall Street's fourth quarter predictions with a $0.47 EPS over analysts' expectations of $0.43 per share. Reported revenue at $8.83 billion, however, missed analysts' forecasts of $9.08 billion.
- One significant report was an immense 72% profit decrease year over year. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The food maker said it makes about 80% of its revenue in foreign currencies, leaving it particularly vulnerable to the recent strengthening of the U.S. dollar."
- In looking ahead at 2015, Mondelez "[expects] to deliver modest organic revenue growth as well as solid margin expansion and strong constant-currency earnings growth."
Dive Insight:
In addition to all of its financial ups and downs, Mondelez had a busy Q4 2014. The company hired ex-Dell executive Brian Gladden as CFO. It acquired an 80% majority stake in Vietnamese food manufacturer Kinh Do Snacks and dedicated $24 million to its plant in Turkey, part of its further international expansion. And, following Mondelez merging coffee brands with D.E. Master Blenders in May 2014, making it the second-largest coffee company with only Nestle ahead of it, the company faced an investigation by the EU, who felt the concessions the two companies made were "insufficient."
Last month, Mondelez signed a lease for a new Bahrain plant, which is a jumpstart on the company's positive predictions for the new year.