Nestlé set to sell bad performers

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has a shortlist of businesses it is looking to sell after identifying laggards that it cannot fix, chief executive officer Paul Bulcke has told investors.

The maker of Nescafe coffee has completed a review of 97 per cent of its 1,800 distinct business units, Mr Bulcke said at an investor seminar at Nestlé headquarters in Switzerland.

The company is seeks to rebound after posting its weakest quarterly revenue growth in four years.

“We are going to have some divestitures,” Mr Bulcke said, without disclosing details.

“We have allowed underperformers to underperform for too long. That is not the case anymore. We will go after them.”

Analysts have cited Jenny Craig diet centres, PowerBar snacks and Lean Cuisine frozen meals as possible candidates to be jettisoned. – (Bloomberg)