Dive Brief:
- Nestle reported a 45% increase in net profit to 14.5 billion francs for the year ending Dec. 31, but it announced a slower growth rate than expected as well.
- Nestle missed its target growth rate of 5% to 6% at a reported rate of 4.5% for 2014, but that number notably still beat growth at Unilever and Mondelez International.
- In China, its second-largest market, Nestle saw hardly any revenue difference, while in North America, its frozen foods sector struggled.
Dive Insight:
"We expect 2015 to be similar to 2014 and we aim to achieve organic growth of around 5% with improvements in margins, underlying earnings per share in constant currencies and capital efficiency," says Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke, according to Benzinga.