Profit margins have been squeezed by high coffee and cocoa prices. Shares in the KitKat manufacturer plummeted by nearly 7 per cent on Thursday after the company said it expected an operating profit margin “broadly similar” in the second half of the year compared with the first, following earlier forecasts of higher margins.
The company’s operating profit margin fell by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year, standing at 16.4% in the first half of the year…
Operating profit fell by 2.8% to 7.1 billion Swiss francs ($8.7 billion). Nestlé stated that its operating margin was also affected by increased marketing expenditure, customs duties and the global recall of infant formula earlier this year
In an attempt to emerge from a prolonged crisis, the company recently announced that it had sold 50 per cent of its water business to the Platinum Equity fund.
