PETALING JAYA: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 rose 1.7% to RM235.22 million from RM231.22 million a year ago on lower operating expenses due to phasing of marketing and promotional spends, as well as efficiency increases across the supply chain.
Its revenue jumped 1.6% to RM1.45 billion compared with RM1.43 billion in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, driven by robust domestic sales of 4.9% for the quarter, which was fuelled by strong sales momentum during the Chinese New Year festive period.
Nestlé CEO Juan Aranols (pix) said it continued to create new consumption opportunities and accelerated its product innovation drive in the first quarter. New product innovations in Q1 include Maggi Pedas Giler 2X Ayam Bakar, Milo with Whole Grain Cereal, as well as Nestum Brown Rice.
“Looking ahead, we remain focused on leveraging new opportunities for our products, delivering a steady stream of innovations and constantly driving efficiencies to accelerate our growth.
“We are encouraged by this solid start to the year. Although we still see some pressures on commodities and fluctuating consumer sentiment, we are optimistic that we will be able to sustain this momentum in the year ahead given the robust plans we have in place to deliver sustainable and profitable growth,” Aranols said in a statement.
