Nestlé and Unilever report weak summer sales with the weather partly to blame
London/Zurich — Nestlé and Unilever gave predators targeting the consumer-goods business more ammunition, reporting weak sales for a summer in which North American hurricanes and European rains further undermined already tepid consumer demand for big brands. The Swiss owner of Nespresso coffee and Poland Spring water reported its weakest nine-month sales since at least 1999, while the Anglo-Dutch maker of Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream posted third-quarter revenue growth that fell well short of estimates. Both companies said bad weather curbed demand for refreshments, compounding "big food’s" struggle to revive growth. "The weather has been extremely cold in the US, and to a large extent in Europe," Nestlé chief financial officer François-Xavier Roger told reporters on a call. Referring to the company’s water brands, he added, "it’s a business that can be seasonal, especially in the summer, so it certainly didn’t help us". Unilever’s shares fell as much as 5.2% on Thursday in Am...
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