Global food and drink company Nestlé has today (Thursday, October 17) reduced its full-year sales guidance as it published its latest financial results.
The Swiss firm said that organic sales growth is now expected to be around 2% for 2024, down from a previous forecast of at least 3% as outlined in July.
Nestlé said that organic growth for the first nine months of the year stood at 2%, while pricing was 1.6%.
Total reported sales in the period amounted to CHF 67.1 billion (€71.5 billion) which is down 2.4% on the first nine months of 2023.
The company pointed to “an environment of softening consumer demand”, along with actions it had taken in the third quarter to reduce customer inventory.
The update states that the company’s underlying trading operating profit margin for 2024 is now expected to be around 17%, while earnings per share growth in constant currency is expected to be “broadly flat”.
Nestlé
Nestlé has today confirmed that its board of directors has approved changes to the company’s organisation, effective as of January 1, 2025.
The company added that there would also be changes to its executive board.
Laurent Freixe, who was appointed as chief executive of Nestlé in September, said that “a leaner executive board structure” will “increase simplicity, speed up decision-making and strengthen the momentum behind global initiatives”.
Freixe said that he is confident these changes will “optimally position Nestlé for future success”.
“With these organisational changes, all the leaders of key units driving our performance and our transformation will now report directly to me.
“This is crucial, as we sharpen our focus on consumers and customers and restore investment in our brands and in innovation to expand market share and accelerate our performance.
“Going forward, we are also placing a greater emphasis on Nestlé’s digital transformation into a real-time, end-to-end connected, data- and AI-powered organisation,” he said.
Commenting on the financial results, Freixe said that consumer demand has weakened in recent months and the company expects the demand environment to remain soft.
“Nestlé is uniquely positioned to win in our industry, given our global scale, broad portfolio of iconic brands and innovative products that connect with people every day and in every stage of their lives.
“Building on this strong foundation, we will sharpen our focus on consumers and customers and advance our categories to accelerate performance and gain market share.
“We will also expand our digital transformation to enhance agility and efficiency. For our brands to win in the market, we need to invest,” he said.
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