Food products Nestlé grows faster than expected in the third quarter
Nestlé was able to significantly accelerate its growth in the third quarter. The world's largest food company is therefore on course to achieve its annual targets. Nevertheless, the new CEO has announced a savings program and job cuts.
16.10.2025, 07:19
SDA
In total, Nestlé generated sales of around 65.87 billion Swiss francs in the first nine months of 2025, as the company announced on Thursday. This corresponds to organic growth of 3.3 percent - more than analysts had expected.
In the third quarter, organic growth amounted to 4.3 percent, compared to 3.0 percent in the previous quarter. This was again due to price increases of 2.8 percent. Nestlé was able to improve the volume sold. Volume growth (RIG) turned positive again at 1.5 percent after a decline of 0.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Management is confident that it will achieve its targets for the year as a whole. It continues to expect higher organic sales growth than in the previous year (2.2%). The operating margin is expected to be at least 16%.
Savings program announced
In addition to the quarterly figures, the new CEO Philipp Navratil also announced initial strategic priorities. He intends to focus primarily on volume growth. "Achieving growth impetus through real volume growth is our top priority," he is quoted as saying in the press release.
At the same time, he is putting the brakes on costs. The Group plans to cut around 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years. Around 12,000 of these will be office staff in various functions and regions, which should result in annual savings of 1.0 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027. A further 4,000 or so jobs are to be cut as part of productivity initiatives in production and the supply chain.
"The world is changing - and Nestlé needs to change faster," said Navratil. This also includes difficult but necessary decisions that involve a reduction in the workforce over the next two years. "Together with other measures, we are working to significantly reduce our costs and are today increasing our savings target to 3.0 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027."
Navratil took over from Laurent Freixe a month and a half ago with a bang. The latter was fired immediately after a year in office due to a concealed relationship with a direct subordinate and allegations of favoritism. Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Bulcke also left prematurely as a result and handed over to the previous Vice Chairman Pablo Isla.
Expectations of Navratil and Isla are high. After years of weak growth and management mistakes, the duo is expected to bring more dynamism and push the pace again.
