UPDATE: Nestlé Posts Lower H1 Earnings, Announces Share Buyback

Nestlé SA

reported a 9.6% drop in its first-half earnings and announced its plans to launch an 8 billion Swiss franc ($8.8 billion) share buyback programme. The Vevey, Switzerland-based company's net profit for the period declined to 4.63 billion Swiss francs ($5.07 billion), versus a year-ago profit of 5.12 billion francs. However, analysts were expecting a profit of 5.01 billion francs. Its revenue slipped 4.8% to 42.98 billion francs compared to 45.17 billion francs. Its organic sales growth was 4.7% in the six months ended June 30, versus 4.1% in the year-earlier period. Sales growth in emerging markets was 9.7%, compared to 8.2% in the year-earlier period. Sales growth in the Americas was 4.9%, down from 5.0 percent a year ago, while sales growth in Europe increased to 1.4%. Sales growth was 7.5% in Asia. Nestlé's trading operating margin narrowed to 15.0%, from 15.1% in the year-ago period. Its Operating cash flow in the period was CHF 4.3 billion. The company also confirmed its organic sales outlook of about 5% for the full year. Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO said, "We delivered solid, broad-based organic growth, driven by real internal growth and pricing in what is still a very volatile trading environment. We continued to drive the growth momentum with innovation, increased support behind our brands, and a focus on efficiencies.” Nestlé shares gained 0.42% to close at $73.89 yesterday.