Nestlé sees its net profit jump by 20% in 2023

Nestlé recorded a net profit up 20.9% in 2023, to 11.2 billion Swiss francs (11.7 billion euros), at the end of a year in which it increased its prices by 7.5 % to compensate for rising costs. The Swiss food giant, owner among others of Nespresso coffee pods, Maggi broths and Smarties confectionery, saw its turnover decrease by 1.5% to 93 billion Swiss francs, against a backdrop of a slight decline in volumes. in sales, he announced Thursday in a press release. Negative exchange rate effects reduced its turnover by 7.8%.

Its organic growth, which measures its sales excluding exchange rate effects and acquisitions or disposals, amounted to 7.2% while real internal growth, which gives an indication of volumes, contracted by 0.3%. . These figures are slightly below the forecasts of analysts surveyed by the Swiss agency AWP who expected on average organic growth of 7.3% for a turnover of 93.3 billion francs and a net profit of 12 .1 billion francs.

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“Unprecedented inflation over the past two years has increased pressure on many consumers and affected demand for food and beverage products,” Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider was quoted as saying in the press release. “Looking ahead to 2024, we are prioritizing volume-led growth,” he added.

For the current year, the group is targeting organic growth of around 4%. For the past year, Nestlé plans to pay a dividend of 3.00 Swiss francs per share, an increase of 5 cents compared to the previous year.