Swiss coffee and food giant Nestlé has reported its full year results for 2017, with total sales of US$89.8 billion, up from US$89.5 billion the previous year, but net profit dropping to US$7.18 billion from US$7.5 billion.
The company saw organic growth of 2.4 per cent across the business and improved its operating profit margin by 40 basis points to 16.4 per cent. Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said the company's cost reduction initiatives delivered margin improvement ahead of 2017 expectations, in spite of considerable commodity price increases. “Our 2017 organic sales growth was within the guided range but below our expectations, in particular due to weak sales development towards the end of the year,” he said in a statement. “Sales growth in Europe and Asia was encouraging while North America and Brazil continued to see a challenging environment. Organic sales growth is expected to improve in 2018 and we are firmly on track for our 2020 margin improvement target.” Nestlé's single serve brand Nespresso reported mid single-digit growth, with positive momentum in all regions and sustained mid-teen growth in North America.