It was a baptism of fire for Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider as the first set of annual results under the new boss came in below expectations and heralded the end of the ‘Nestlé model’ of 5%-6% yearly organic growth.
Shares in the business slumped 2.3% during morning trading but recovered to just 1.3% down at CHF 72.25 (£57.94) at the time of writing on Thursday afternoon.
The Kit Kat, Nescafé and Purina petfood maker vowed to steepen its cost-saving programme as organic growth fell to just 3.2% - the lowest level for 20 years and the fourth annual results in a row it missed the 5%-6% target.
Nestlé downgraded growth ambitions to between 2% and 4% for 2017 as Schneider warned of continuing volatility. Jefferies analyst Martin Deboo took an apocalyptic tone in his note: “Sackcloth and ashes from Schneider. With the weight of expectation upon him, [Schneider] looks to be shifting the long-term algorithm away from top line and towards margin,” he said.
Deboo added the results brought the season of big consumer group results to a subdued, “bleak” end, with average organic growth across Nestlé, Unilever, Danone and Reckitt Benckiser of 2.1%. “An absolutely low number and one lower than our going-in expectation of 2.4%. We expect investors to continue to ask whether ‘the model is broken’ on the back of this.”
Shares in rival food giant Danone have fallen 2% to €58.94 (£50.38) since annual results on Wednesday. Sales fell 2.1% to €21.9bn as the business faced into severe currency headwinds and the dairy division struggled, with an Activia relaunch failing to gain traction.
Andrew Wood of Bernstein said although volumes were weak, it was “a very solid year in a tough operating environment”.
Kraft Heinz, another global food group struggling to find growth, reported a 3.7% slump in fourth-quarter sales to $6.9bn (£5.5bn). Investors took flight, sending the stock tumbling 4.7% to $86.81 as US markets opened on Thursday.
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