Nestle cuts full-year guidance weeks as it struggles to rebuild market share

Company replaced chief executive last month

Nestl€, the world’s largest food company, said sales would grow 2% this year. Photograph: Keystone/Fabrice Coffrini
Nestl€, the world’s largest food company, said sales would grow 2% this year. Photograph: Keystone/Fabrice Coffrini

Nestle cut its revenue guidance for the year as it struggles to rebuild market share after higher prices turned consumers off branded products.

The maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food now expects organic sales to rise around 2 per cent in 2024, below the previous forecast of at least 3 per cent announced in July, the company said in a statement Thursday. Sales climbed 2 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

Nestle abruptly replaced chief executive Mark Schneider with Laurent Freixe last month, shifting from an outsider who previously ran a health-care company to an insider who climbed the Swiss company’s executive ranks focusing on functions like marketing and selling.

Freixe is attempting to restore investor confidence after recent stumbles. -Bloomberg