Nestle reported an organic growth of 3.6% on Friday in its half-year results for 2019.
The Swiss multinational food and drink company added that it saw a continued strong real internal growth of 2.6%.
Nestle said that increased growth was driven by the United States and Brazil.
Moreover, free cash flow was up by 40.4% to CHF 4.1 billion.
Earlier in May, Nestle announced that it had entered negotiations to sell Nestle Skin Health.
The owner of the KitKat brand also acknowledged the success of the chocolate bar earlier this year, meaning it would not need to add any new businesses to its portfolio.
“We are encouraged by our first half results and have made further progress toward our 2020 financial goals,” Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO, said in a company statement.
“Disciplined execution and fast innovation contributed to improved organic growth and profitability. Our growth was broad-based with our largest market, the United States, performing particularly well,” the CEO continued.
“Across our categories increased investment behind our brands and in innovation is clearly paying off, as reflected in our strong momentum in PetCare and the return to mid single-digit growth in coffee.”
“Our Starbucks launch has been a great success so far and we plan on further geographic expansion and product innovation to make the most of this unique opportunity. Active portfolio management will continue to sharpen our strategic focus and position the company in attractive high-growth businesses. Our value creation model is clearly delivering the expected results and will support sustained profitable growth.”
Nestle also confirmed its full-year guidance for 2019, expecting organic sales growth around 3.5% and the full-year underlying trading operating profit margin at or above 17.5%.
Shares in Nestle SA (SWX:NESN) were up 1.98% as of 11:14 CEST Friday.
