Nestlé warns sales growth will be weakest in two decades
Its CEO is under pressure to turn the company around
Zurich — Nestlé warned that sales growth this year will be the weakest in at least two decades, giving activist investor Dan Loeb ammunition for his campaign to overhaul the world’s largest food company. Organic revenue growth will be at the lower half of its 2% to 4% forecast, the maker of Nespresso capsules and Perrier bottled water said on Thursday. The shares erased most of a 2.5% intra-day decline as CEO Mark Schneider said sales growth should improve in the second half and Nestlé may expand restructuring plans. It was "a semester to forget", wrote Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Bank Vontobel, who added that all the key numbers worsened. "Nestlé will have to convince investors at the investor day in September that it will be able to accelerate growth and deliver on profitability." Schneider is under pressure to turn around the maker of Gerber baby food and Purina Dog Chow after Loeb revealed a $3.5bn stake last month, demanding asset sales and higher shareholder returns....
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