Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Nestlé passed on double-digit price increases for its coffee and chocolate in some markets, as the world’s biggest food company reported better than expected first-quarter sales.
The Swiss group said organic sales climbed 2.8 per cent in the first three months of the year, surpassing the 2.5 per cent expected by analysts.
Nestlé, which makes Nespresso and KitKats, raised prices 2.1 per cent in the period as it passed on the soaring cost of coffee and cocoa. The volume of goods it sold in the quarter rose 0.7 per cent, in line with expectations.
Its confectionery and coffee divisions led the group’s overall sales increase, reporting gains of 8.9 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively. The company said it had passed on double-digit price increases in some markets.
Nestlé added that it still expected to deliver about 4 per cent organic sales growth and a 16 per cent margin in the full year, with forecasts including the potential impact of tariffs.
Chief executive Laurent Freixe said the company was facing an “environment of heightened macroeconomic and consumer uncertainty”.
Freixe has set out to rebuild investors’ confidence after a period of underperformance and the shock departure of former chief executive Mark Schneider last year.
At Nestlé’s capital markets day this month, Freixe acknowledged that investors’ trust in the company had been damaged.
