Nestlé sees organic sales growth amid decline

Nestle SA on Thursday reported organic sales growth for the year so far, although reported sales had declined amid weaker consumer demand.

Nestlé sees organic sales growth amid decline

Nestle also announced organizational changes, which will take effect on January 1. The new organization will comprise the five segments of Zone AMS, Zone AOA, Zone EUR, Nestle Health Science, and Nespresso.

The firm said Zone Latin America and Zone North America will merge to become Zone Americas (AMS), led by Steve Presley.

Zone Greater China Region will join Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa (AOA), under AOA's Chief Executive Officer Remy Ejel. Greater China Chair & CEO David Zhang will retain his post but step down from Nestle's executive board.

Nespresso CEO Philipp Navratil, meanwhile, will join the executive board and report directly to Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe.

The Vevey, Switzerland-based food & beverage company, said that for the first nine months of 2024, it generated CHF67.15 billion in total reported sales. This was down 2.4% from CHF 68.83 billion in 2023.

Total reported sales for Zone North America decreased 2.6% to CHF18.52 billion from CHF19.03 billion. Zone Europe sales decreased 1.8% to CHF13.90 billion, and Zone AOA sales fell 5.2% to CHF12.54 billion.

Nestlé reports 2% organic sales growth amid challenges, expects flat year-end earnings

Nestle reported organic sales growth of 2.0%, down from 7.8% the previous year. Coffee was its "largest growth contributor with mid-single-digit growth," while its Dairy and Culinary products both delivered negative growth.

However, Nestle also reported positive 0.5% real internal growth "in an environment of softening consumer demand and actions taken in the third quarter to reduce customer inventory," compared with negative 0.6% the year before. It also noted "consumer hesitancy towards global brands, linked to geopolitical tension."

For the full year, Nestle said it expects organic sales growth of about 2%, an underlying trading operating profit margin of around 17.0%, and "broadly flat" constant currency growth for underlying earnings per share. It previously forecast organic sales growth of at least 3% in July.