Nestlé Achieves Highest Growth in 5 Years Amid Lockdown

Nestlé announced its best quarterly sales growth in nearly five years on Friday as consumers stocked their products from Purina pet food to Nescafe Coffee as well as frozen meals amid worldwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan.

Sales in North America and Europe were particularly strong in March, which helped drive a 4.3% overall increase in the first three months of the year, the fastest quarterly growth in nearly five years and above the 3% increase that analysts predicted.

The multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation said that markets in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Nestlé's products won a big market share. Maggie Noodles and botanical products from its Garden Gourmet brand did well, despite lower water sales

"The majority of markets, especially in North America and Europe, witnessed a markedly increased growth in March, partly supported by consumer storage," Nestle said in a statement.

The company's shares rose 1.78% in early trade on Friday, outperforming the Swiss Market Index (SMI).

Analysts at Jefferies said that Nestle outperformed its competitors, trading 24.8 times compared to 20.9 times for Unilever and 14.5 times for Danone.