Henri de Castries elected new Nestlé board member

Nestlé shareholders elected a new board member and discussed the company’s future growth prospects at their Annual General Meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on 19 April. Henri de Castries was elected as a new member to the Chairman’s and Corporate Governance Committee for a three-year term in front of 2689 shareholders. Castries is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the AXA Group and previously held a position in the French Finance Ministry. Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe announced at the AGM that Nestlé is currently the largest company, by sales and market capitalisation, in the consumer goods industry worldwide. “Our growth drive has not once been interrupted in spite of a very difficult external environment,” Brabeck-Letmathe said. “Since the beginning of 2006, Nestlé has created CHF 85 billion of additional shareholder value.” Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke reviewed the company’s 2011 results and said the company was well positioned for the year to come after a challenging year. “Unprecedented events have been unfolding that are changing the face of the world in many expected ways – economically, financially, politically and socially,” Bulcke said. “These changes are fundamental and are here to stay in what we might call a new reality.” The AGM also discussed economic projects among 2012 targets; in particular, the global water crisis.