(1888PressRelease)
October 28, 2009 - In these challenging times, we have been streamlining our structures and product portfolio and, at the same time, we continue to invest in innovative technologies and expand our R&D capabilities around the world. In addition, we have increased spending in product innovation and consumer-facing brand-support. All this allows me to confirm my expectation that volume-driven organic growth will further accelerate and that the EBIT margin in constant currencies will improve for the full year."
In the first nine months of 2009 the Group achieved organic growth of 3.6%. Real internal growth reached 1.0% having accelerated throughout the year and across most segments of the business. Divestitures, net of acquisitions, had a negative impact of -0.6% on Group sales, as did the currency effect of -5.2% due to the strength of the Swiss franc compared to most other currencies. These two factors contributed to a reduction in Nestlé Group sales of -2.2%, to CHF 79.5 billion.
Organic growth for Nestlé's food and beverage business was 3.5%. Real internal growth accelerated in the third quarter to reach 0.7% for the nine months from 0.1% at the half year. This improvement was evident in each region, resulting in organic growth of 4.4% in the Americas, 0.9% in Europe and 6.5% in Asia, Oceania and Africa for Nestlé's total food and beverage businesses.
The nine-month sales and the first half EBIT margin improvement demonstrate Nestlé's ability to deliver solid performance on top of strong growth in 2008, whilst continuing to invest in longer-term strategic priorities. Emerging markets enjoyed 7.5% organic growth. Popularly Positioned Products, a business model now well established in emerging markets, delivered double-digit growth as the roll-out in developed countries gathered pace.
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