NSRGY Nestle SA (PK)

By Giulia Petroni

Nestle SA said Friday that sales fell in the first quarter and backed its full-year guidance as it is still early to assess the full impact of Covid-19.

The Swiss food and beverage giant said sales for the period were 20.81 billion Swiss francs ($21.36 billion), down from CHF22.18 billion the previous year, partly due to acquisitions net of divestitures and foreign exchange.

Analysts had forecast sales at CHF21.10 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.

Organic growth reached 4.3%, driven by the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, it said.

Nestle maintained its guidance for the full year, saying it expects improvement in organic-sales growth and underlying trading operating profit margin. It said it expects underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency to increase.

"As it is still too early to assess the full impact of Covid-19, we maintain our original full-year 2020 guidance for the time being," Nestle said.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2020 01:57 ET (05:57 GMT)

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