Russia: Nestlé, Auchan and Leroy Merlin’s operations seized

The British consumer goods giant Unilever and the Dutch brewer Heineken have both sold their Russian subsidiaries to a company owned by the industrialist and Kremlin ally Alexei Sagal.
In July, Reckitt, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, agreed to sell part of its Russian business to Sagal after being hit by a new round of EU sanctions. Ferrero, on the other hand, has remained in Russia.

Quick Take — Nestlé: a 2 per cent increase in sales volumes had been forecast, but growth was only 1.8 per cent and the share price plummeted by 7 per cent

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.