Nestlé: shares down slightly after in-line results

(CercleFinance.com) - Nestlé shares were one of the biggest fallers on Switzerland's SMI index on Thursday, down 0.
7%, after the food giant posted in-line full-year results.

Organic growth, which strips out the effects of currency changes, acquisitions and divestments, reached 3.6% last year, slightly beating the consensus of 3.5% growth.

The world's largest food maker, which owns brands such as Nescafé and Perrier, said that its underlying trading operating profit margin reached 17.7%, up 10 basis points as reported and up 20 points at constant currencies.

Nestlé raised its dividend by five centimes to 2.75 francs per share, marking 26 consecutive years of dividend growth.

"These results have reinforced Nestlé's defensive and predictable reputation, in our view," analysts at RBC commented.

"Organic revenue growth of 3.6% was in line with guidance a year ago and EBIT margin came in within the 17.5-18.5% target for 2020 despite Covid-19 and associated additional costs," the Canadian broker said.

Looking ahead, Nestlé said it continued to expect an increase in organic sales growth towards a mid single-digit rate in 2021, with its operating margin marking a "moderate" improvement, an outlook - once again - globally in line with market expectations.

Copyright (c) 2021 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.