LONDON (Brand Republic) – Swiss food giant Nestle said difficult trading conditions for the world’s largest food companies would hinder its second-half sales and profits for this year.
Although the company said profits in its first half increased 34.6% from SFr2.08bn (£832m) last year to SFr2.8bn (£1.1bn), it warned the full-year figure would not be so buoyant. But big earners for the company came from bottled water and pharmaceuticals.
The news comes as rivals such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble saw sales targets fall short. Unilever, which has staked its future on aggressive sales growth, reported an increase in sales for the first half of the year of only 2%. It was aiming for a 4% growth rate.