- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
Nestle cautious on 2022 targets, given rising costs
Swiss food giant Nestle was cautious Thursday about its 2022 targets in the face of rising costs, despite robust results thanks to its shift towards the booming vegetarian market.
Like its British competitor Unilever or the Dutch brewer Heineken, Nestle reported a significant increase in its costs last year for raw materials, packaging, transport and energy.
Businesses have faced supply chain disruptions and decades-high inflation as the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and energy prices surge.
Faced with exceptional inflation, Nestle hiked its prices -- in particular during the last quarter, when they went up 3.1 percent -- as the agri-food sector as a whole passes on cost increases to consumers.
Nestle -- which makes everything from coffee to pet food and plant-based products -- nevertheless published better-than-expected 2021 results.
Nestle's organic growth -- which excludes the effects of acquisitions or divestments to focus on a company's core operations -- reached 7.5 percent, exceeding objectives, with coffee the largest contributor.
This is its "best organic growth since 2011", said Zurich Cantonal Bank analyst Patrik Schwendimann.
Organic growth had been 3.6 percent in 2020.
- Profits up 38% -
Nestle's operating margin was however slightly below its forecasts, at 17.4 percent against a predicted 17.5 percent, due to cost increases.
On top of this came the costs of integrating the brands of The Bountiful Company, a US dietary supplements firm, as well as impairments on its baby formula brand Wyeth.
Net profit bounced 38.2 percent higher to 16.9 billion Swiss francs ($18.3 billion, 16.1 billion euros) last year, fuelled by the sell-off of shares in the cosmetics company L'Oreal.
Nestle was less optimistic in its forecasts for 2022, lowering the bar for its organic growth target to five percent, while it also expects an operating margin of 17-17.5 percent.
"It is conservative, because I think being conservative in a volatile environment with significant inflation around us and uncertainty about what will happen this year is the right way to approach it," Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider told reporters.
The targets point to a "more pronounced decline" in profitability than Nestle previously forecast, but the group is "steering through the rising input cost environment better than peers", said Andreas von Arx, an analyst at Baader Helvea.
- Going veggy -
Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Vontobel private bank, judged these results "robust", highlighting that the efforts to reposition the product range facilitated "widening the gap to the competition".
To boost growth, Nestle has launched a major shake-up of its product portfolio, emphasising more buoyant and higher-margin sectors such as vegetarian alternatives to meat, fish and dairy products.
Total sales rose 3.3 percent to 87.1 billion francs as catering sales recovered and price hikes accelerated in the last quarter under inflationary pressure.
The improved results were driven by coffee -- in particular by pods marketed under the Starbucks brand -- pet food and the rapidly-expanding vegetarian products sector.
On the sidelines of its results, the group announced that it would nominate Luca Maestri, Apple's chief financial officer, to join its board of directors.
Its dividend for 2021 will be increased by five centimes to 2.80 francs per share.
At 1500 GMT, Nestle shares were down 0.22 percent at 117.04 Swiss francs, while the Swiss stock exchange's main SMI index was down 1.20 percent.
D.Moore--AMWN