Nestle Malaysia earnings up 15.7% in Q3, declares 70 sen dividend

Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018 rose 15.7% to RM137.69 million from RM119.01 million a year ago, underpinned by higher sales on the back of strong marketing and promotional activities.

Revenue for the quarter under review increased 8.3% to RM1.43 billion from RM1.32 billion in the same quarter last year, driven by stronger domestic and export sales as well as the zero-rating of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which boosted consumer spending.

Nestle has proposed to declare an interim dividend of 70 sen per share for the quarter under review.

For the cumulative period of nine months, the group’s net profit grew 4.7% to RM535.06 million from RM511.14 million, while revenue expanded 4.8% to RM4.17 billion from RM3.98 billion.

“Against the backdrop of a more encouraging year for the Malaysian economy, we remain committed to our long-term strategy to ‘Fuel the Growth’ via our innovative drive and enhancing our strong brand portfolio,” Nestle said on its prospects.

“We are confident that our investments, including the new Nestlé distribution centre, will enable us to maintain our solid growth momentum. In line with this commitment, the group has recently announced the RM100 million investment in Milo manufacturing making the Chembong factory the largest Milo manufacturing centre of excellence in the world. The company strives to improve efficiencies across our supply chain and reinvest savings to achieve sustainable and profitable growth,” it added.

Nestle’s shares dipped RM1.50 or 1% to close at RM143.50 on 111,600 shares traded.