Nestlé: Oddo confirms rating before quarterly sales

(CercleFinance.com) - Oddo has confirmed its buy rating on the Nestlé stock, along with a target price of 85 Swiss francs before the group unveils its quarterly sales figures.


The value of Nestlé's stake in L'Oréal and its share buyback program support our positive view of the stock in a sector that is struggling to regain growth - particularly in mature countries, the broker explains.

Nestlé will publish its first-quarter sales before trading on 19 April. Oddo expects weak organic sales growth of +2.3% to 21.27 billion Swiss francs, up 1.4% as reported. The broker's forecasts are slightly below the consensus, which targets organic growth of +2.6%, with a price effect of +0.5%. It has cut its annual forecasts by almost 1%, due to FX factors and restatements relating to IFRS standards (15 and 16).

Q1 sales are expected to be sluggish, albeit driven by volumes, in contrast to expected growth at Danone (+4.6%e lfl), with the group benefiting from a better sales momentum for milk for babies in China (20% of sales early life nutrition), Oddo adds in its daily equity report.



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