This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 24, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s first-quarter net profit rose by a marginal 1.7% to RM235.21 million from RM231.22 million a year ago on lower operating expenses due to the phasing of marketing and promotional spends, as well as increased efficiency across the supply chain.

This resulted in higher earnings per share of 100.31 sen for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (1QFY19), compared with 98.6 sen for 1QFY18. Quarterly revenue improved 1.6% to RM1.45 billion for 1QFY19 from RM1.43 billion a year ago on robust domestic sales of 4.9% for the quarter, fuelled by strong sales momentum during the Chinese New Year festive period. Factoring in the divestment of the chilled dairy business on Jan 1, 2019, this represents a higher growth of 3.2% year-on-year.

In a statement yesterday, Nestle Malaysia chief executive officer Juan Aranols (pic) said the group continued to create consumption opportunities and accelerate its product innovation drive in 1QFY19.

“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,” he said.

On prospects for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2019, Aranols sees strong demand for its brands in Malaysia.

“We have strong plans in place to continue generating sustainable and profitable growth. We acknowledge that there will be some pressures from higher commodity prices and more volatile demand in our main export markets, but we remain confident in our ability to deliver another solid year of results in 2019,” he said.