Despite the economic slowdown, Nestle India, the food and beverages major, registered net sales of Rs 3,780 crore for January-September 2009, a 17 per cent jump as compared to the same period a year earlier.
In a presentation to its analysts, the company attributed the growth to “strong domestic sales and volumes”. For the nine-month period ended September 30, Nestle saw a sustained growth over the quarters, with net sales rising 16 per cent in Q1 (Jan-March); 16.8 per cent in Q2 (April-June) and 17.6 per cent in Q3 (July-September). However, the effects of the slowdown did show up. During the comparable periods a year earlier, the company’s net sales showed growth of 26.4 per cent, 23.5 per cent and 22.2 per cent, respectively.
The Nestle India management says its strong and diversified portfolio helped it tide over the financial crisis. For the nine-month period ended September 30, beverages accounted for 14.1 per cent of the company’s revenue, down 2.2 percentage points as compared to the same period last year. The prepared dishes and cooking aids segment registered a growth of 1.6 percentage points, to account for 25.5 per cent in the period. Its main revenue earner, the milk products & nutrition category, was almost flat, accounting for 46.3 per cent of net sales.
Nestle’s exports, though, did take a beating from the slowdown and indicated a dip of 8.9 per cent in volume terms and a decrease of 6.6 per cent in value terms, when compared to the nine-month period of 2008.