STORY: Nestle is feeling less optimistic about the year ahead.
On Thursday the maker of KitKat bars and Nespresso coffee cut its sales growth outlook for the year.
The Swiss giant now expects a rise of around 3%, down from the 4% forecast earlier.
It also reported half-year revenue growth that came in below expectations.
The world’s largest packaged foods maker is feeling the effect of falling shop prices.
After years of inflation, it says they’re now coming down faster than expected.
Nestle and rivals like Unilever had been hiking prices to maintain profits amid rising costs.
Now both want to rebuild sales volumes, which took a hit as consumers switched to lower-cost brands.
Nestle did still hike prices over the latest period, but by only 2%.
That was less than analysts expected, adding to evidence that consumer inflation is slowing.
The company reported an underlying first-half profit of over $8.8 billion, in line with forecasts.
Source Agencies
