Nestlé growth speeds up as Russia business costs about 1.4 billion francs
The food group lifted organic growth to 4.0% in the third quarter and kept its full-year targets. Its Russian unit, placed under external administration, is being deconsolidated.
Archive image · Photo: Robert Cutts from Bristol, England, UK / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Swiss food group Nestlé accelerated its growth in the third quarter. Organic sales growth, which excludes currency effects and acquisitions, rose to 4.0% from 3.7% in the previous quarter, the company said. It was driven mainly by higher volumes: so-called real internal growth was 2.8%, while price increases contributed 1.1 percentage points. According to Quartz, the result beat analysts' expectations.
Sales for the first nine months totalled 65.87 billion Swiss francs, virtually unchanged from a year earlier. Emerging markets grew 6.8% organically in the quarter, developed markets 2.2% and Europe only 1.2%. Nestlé kept its 2026 forecast for organic growth of 3% to 4%. "Our execution is driving stronger growth," Chief Executive Philipp Navratil said in a statement.
The Russian business is weighing on the balance sheet. The company said it was placed under temporary external administration and has not been consolidated since the end of September. Nestlé is derecognising about 1.6 billion francs in net assets, plus a non-cash charge of about 1.4 billion francs from currency translation. Russia accounted for around 2% of group sales.