Nestlé sales increase by 11 %

Strong growth in emerging markets helped Swiss food and drink giant Nestlé post an 11 per cent increase in sales for the first nine months of 2012.

The Vevey-based group said today that sales rose to 67.6 billion Swiss francs (€55.9 billion) in September, up from 60.9 billion francs (€50.3 billion) in the same period last year.

With 11.7 per cent growth in emerging markets and 2.4 per cent growth in developed markets, the maker of Nescafe instant coffee, Jenny Craig weight loss products and Haagen-Dazs ice cream said it expects organic sales growth of 6.1 per cent this year.

The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 6.3 per cent. "We expected a slowdown in growth, but we did not expect things to slow so much," Andrew Wood, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote in a note to investors.

The company kept up the growth despite a global economy which has been weighed down by Europe's debt crisis and sluggish American growth. It also maintained its full-year outlook, despite the tough trading conditions.

"We grew in the intensely competitive developed markets in spite of a general economic malaise and low levels of consumer confidence," said Nestlé chief executive Paul Bulcke.

He said the success in less-developed markets is due to the company "expanding our routes to market and enhancing our product offerings".

With that success and lowered costs for its raw materials, he added that Nestlé's "continued momentum in real internal growth, combined with some easing of input cost pressures, allows us to confirm our full-year outlook".

PA/Bloomberg