Food products Nestlé sticks to dividend increase in difficult times
The Kitkat and Nespresso manufacturer Nestlé grew by 2.2 percent in 2024 under its own steam. Despite recent difficult times, the dividend will be increased for the 29th time in a row to 3.05 francs and the targets for the current year will be confirmed.
13.02.2025, 07:01
13.02.2025, 07:12
SDA
Nestlé generated total sales of 91.4 billion Swiss francs in 2024 as a whole, a decrease of 1.8 percent in Swiss francs. However, excluding exchange rate changes and acquisitions and disposals of business units, Nestlé grew by 2.2 percent compared to the previous year. The so-called organic growth is made up of price adjustments of 1.5 percent and volume increases (RIG) of 0.8 percent, as the world's largest food company announced on Thursday.
In the fourth quarter, organic growth amounted to 2.7 percent, compared to 1.9 percent in the third quarter and 2.8 percent in the second quarter.
Of turnover, 17.2 percent remained as operating profit, compared to 17.3 percent in the previous year. The bottom line was a net profit of 10.9 billion Swiss francs, a good 1 percent less than in the previous year.
A ray of hope for shareholders, who have had to accept large share price losses in recent months: the dividend is to rise by 5 centimes to 3.05 francs per share. This means that Nestlé has maintained an annual dividend increase for 29 years.
For 2025, management continues to forecast an improvement in organic sales growth compared to 2024. The underlying operating profit margin is expected to be 16.0 percent or higher.
In the medium term, Nestlé wants to continue to return to values of over 17 percent. Organic sales growth is expected to be "4 percent plus in a normal business environment".
As already announced at the Investor Day in November, Nestlé intends to save 2.5 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027. An additional CHF 300 million of this amount is secured for 2025. The savings will be used to finance higher investments in marketing.
