This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 26, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 rose 6.5% to RM131.82 million, from RM123.82 million a year earlier, on the back of robust domestic sales and its continued focus on demand generation funded by efficiencies and savings.

The stronger earnings came despite revenue dipping 1.4% to RM1.33 billion from RM1.35 billion a year earlier, which it said was impacted by subdued export demand against the backdrop of regional and global uncertainties. Earnings per share rose to 56.21 sen from 52.8 sen previously, it showed in a stock exchange filing yesterday. The group declared a final dividend of RM1.40 per share — the same as the year before — amounting to RM328.3 million and payable on May 21.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019, Nestle’s net profit rose 2.1% to RM672.91 million, from RM658.88 million for the year-ago period, while revenue was flat at RM5.51 billion.

Nestle said it was encouraged by its performance in 2019, particularly in a volatile trading environment.

“We foresee soft consumer demand will continue as well as pressure from external factors, including commodity prices or any of the several crises that during the world is confronting this early part of the year. However, we remain optimistic that with our strong fundamentals and our focus on consumer-driven commercial activities, we are well positioned to achieve continued growth in 2020,” it said. Nestle closed 0.28% or 40 sen lower at RM142 yesterday, valuing it at RM33.3 billion.