PETALING JAYA: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (Q3’22) decreased 23.9% to RM112.65 million from RM148.02 million in the corresponding quarter last year primarily due to the impact of higher commodity prices and unfavourable exchange rates, as well as the quarterly impact of the prosperity tax.
However, its revenue for Q3’22 grew 17.0% to RM1.68 billion from RM1.44 billion a year ago, attributed to domestic and export sales that increased 13.5% and 30.2% respectively as economic activities continued to stabilise both locally and globally.
For the nine months period, Nestle’s net profit stretched 6.5% to RM487.48 million from RM457.71 million on the back of higher sales and lower Covid-19 expenses.
Revenue swelled 17.5% to RM5.02 billion from RM4.27 billion last year on the back of solid growth in both the core food & beverage and out-of-home segments, which continued to benefit from strong recovery following the full lifting of movement restrictions earlier in the year.
It has declared a second interim dividend of 70 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022, consistent with the second interim dividend of 2021.
On prospects for the year, CEO Juan Aranols said it remain in a resilient position to deliver a year of solid growth as it moves into the final quarter of the year.
“Nevertheless, we continue to contend with tough market conditions defined by high commodity prices and energy costs, in a challenging and volatile global environment. Adding to this, the ringgit has depreciated to its weakest point against the US dollar in many years, further compounding the impact from imported commodities, even if this has been partially softened by our hedging policy,” he added.