Nestlé reports rise in sales

Swiss food giant Nestlé reported sales of CHF60.9bn ($67.62bn) for the first nine months of 2011, which represents 7.3% organic growth and 4.1% real internal growth.

Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke said that in a tough environment, the company continued to build its capabilities and future position while maintaining strong growth across regions and categories.

The company’s performance was driven by its volume growth of 4.1% and pricing gains of 3.2%, and it expects to slightly overperform for the year as a whole against its long-term organic sales growth target of 5-6% despite input cost pressures.

The organic growth in the Americas was 5.8%, 5% in Europe, 13.1% in Asia, Oceania and Africa, 4% in developed markets, and 13.1% in the emerging markets.

Total group sales, however, fell 13.5% to CHF60.89bn ($67.61bn) compared with CHF70.41bn ($78.19bn) in the previous year, due to negative impacts of currency and divestitures.

The Nestlé nutrition unit generated sales of CHF5.4bn, which represents 7.6% organic growth and 5.2% real internal growth.