Posted 23 Feb. 2023 at 10:20
The world number one in food presented a good increase in its turnover for 2022, but without satiating investors (the share fell 2.5%, Thursday February 16), both the question of inflation will remain central in 2023. Nestlé announced on Thursday an 8.4% increase in sales, to 94.4 billion Swiss francs (barely more in euros). Growth came almost entirely from price increases, with volumes barely positive (+0.1%). Despite these price increases, « [la] Gross margin [du groupe] down about 260 basis points, that’s huge”, commented Mark Schneider, the managing director, reports Archyde.com. Recurring current operating profitability (an in-house indicator) was reduced from 17.4% to 17.1%. The operating margin, comparable to that of Danone, was maintained at 14%.
Net profit of 9.27 billion was lower than the 11.6 billion targeted by analysts. Its sharp drop compared to 16.9 billion in 2021 is mainly explained by the capital gain generated that year on the sale of 4% of L’Oréal. Nestlé, however, proposes a dividend increase of 5.3%, to 2.95 SF, and specifies that it has returned to shareholders, in 2022, a total amount of 18.2 billion francs, between the dividend and the share buybacks. For 2023, the group expects organic sales growth “between 6% and 8%”without specifying the extent of its price increases, and on a recurring operating margin between 17% and 17.5%.