Nestle, the Swiss food and beverage giant, recently released its sales figures for the first nine months of the year. The company reported sales of 68.83 billion Swiss francs ($76.57 billion), slightly lower than the 69.13 billion achieved in the same period last year. Despite this, Nestle still saw organic sales growth of 7.8%, falling short of the estimated 8.1%.
The growth in sales was primarily driven by pricing, which accounted for 8.4% of the overall increase. However, real internal growth, which combines volume and mix, remained in line with projections at minus 0.6%.
CEO Mark Schneider commented on the results, stating, “Growth was driven by pricing as we continued to navigate historic inflation levels. The recovery of our volume and mix is underway.”
Nestle remains optimistic for the future, expecting real internal growth to become positive in the second half of the year. The company has reaffirmed its full-year guidance, anticipating organic sales growth between 7% and 8%, alongside an underlying trading operating profit margin between 17% and 17.5%. Additionally, Nestle projects a 6% to 10% increase in underlying earnings per share in constant currency.
Despite the slight setback in sales growth, Nestle is confident in its ability to continue delivering solid performance in challenging market conditions.
