Swiss food giant Nestlé has seen its turnover grow 3.2 % last year, which is its slowest growth in the past ten years. The company’s brand-new CEO, Mark Schneider, immediately announced a restructuring plan to improve profitability.
500 million Swiss francs in restructuring costs
For 2016, Nestlé announced a 3.2 % organic turnover growth to 89.5 billion francs (about 82 billion euro), despite the – 1.6 % impact from negative exchange rate fluctuations. “Our 2016 organic growth was at the high end of the industry but at the lower end of our expectations. […] Based on these results, our Board of Directors is pleased to propose the 22nd consecutive dividend increase, underlining our commitment to continuity”, Schneider said.
Schneider said he expects a “2 to 4 % turnover growth for the current fiscal year”, which is lower than the 5 to 6 % Bulcke always strived for. However, despite his claims, Bulcke failed to reach those targets for four years in a row.
“In order to drive future profitability, we plan to increase restructuring costs considerably in 2017”, the new CEO confirmed. For 2016, that would amount to a sum of 500 million francs, but the company did not give any additional information.
