Nestle, the world’s largest food and beverage company, has reported full-year results for 2017, showing organic growth of 2.4% was at the low end of expectations following slow growth of 1.9% in the fourth quarter.
Net profit fell to £5.49bn compared to £6.58bn recorded in 2016, and overall net sales increased 0.4% to £69.29bn from £69.05bn.
CEO Mark Schneider said, “Our 2017 organic sales growth was within the guided range but below our expectations, in particular due to weak sales development towards the end of the year. Sales growth in Europe and Asia was encouraging while North America and Brazil continued to see a challenging environment.
'Our cost reduction initiatives delivered margin improvement ahead of 2017 expectations, in spite of considerable commodity price increases.
'During the past months, we have completed initial portfolio adjustments with very favorable results. We will continue this active portfolio management approach in a disciplined manner and fully in line with our strategy. Regarding our core portfolio, accelerating our growth through product innovation and renovation is high on the agenda.
'Organic sales growth is expected to improve in 2018 and we are firmly on track for our 2020 margin improvement target.”
Nestle has more than 2,000 brands ranging from global icons to local favourites, and is present in 189 countries around the world.