Nestle's Pacific sales surged

46 per cent last year

SWISS -owned food and drinks giant, Nestle, recorded a massive surge in Pacific Island sales last year. Nestle’s Pacific Islands sales jumped 46 per cent in the year to December 31 to reach AUDSI24 million.

This was added to sale of Nestle Aus tralia products, resulting in a tripling of profit for the company.

The Sydney group, maker of everything

from Milo and Nescafe coffee to Minties and Go-Cat cat food, lifted net earnings from $10.2 million to $36.4 mil lion in the year to December 31.

All but $6.4 million of the latest profit was returned as a dividend to Nestle Aus tralia’s parent company.

According to its company information.

Nestle has four factories in the Pacific, two of which are in Fiji, one in New Caledonia, and one in Papua New Guinea.

The company also has an office in French Polynesia. In Australia, Nestle has 15 factories and there are four in New Zealand.

In its accounts lodged with the Aus tralian Securities and Investments Commis sion, Nestle described the sharp profit

improvement as simply “satisfactory”.

But it was an impressive result, given that overall sales (including the Pacific Islands result), grew just 6.7 per cent to $1.92 billion.

The results show pre-term earnings jumped from $72.1 million from $29.7 mil lion, with lower interest and depreciation charges playing a part in the improvement.

Nestle did not dissect the result. Its short, six-sentence review made mention of the major expansion of its ice cream plant at Mulgrave in Melbourne, a project that has reportedly underpinned big market gains by the company’s ice cream business over the Australian summer.

It also referred to the commissioning of new plant at Dennington, in south-west Victoria and noted a logistics restructuring

which consoli dated a num ber of ware houses into two national distribution centres in Melbourne and Sydney.

Based on 1997 results, Nes tle’s foods and beverages business.

which covers Nescafe and International Roast coffee, Nesquik milk drinks, Milo, Sunshine milk powder, Maggi culinary products and Lean Cuisine frozen foods, accounts for about 44 per cent of the group’s sales. Nestle confectionary, mak ers of Minties, Kit Kat, Smarties and Life Savers, accounts for 22.5 per cent. Nestle Dairy Products, which includes yoghurts, desserts, and Peters ice cream brands, such as Drumstick and Billabong, the Friskies Pet Care division and the food services and industrial supplies business account for the balance. The highest paid director, presum ably Em Pope, who resigned as managing director on March 1,1998, or his successor Bradley Alford, took home between AUDS94O,OOO to $950,000. It seems that food and bevereages may be the industry to get into. Nestle Pacific Islands manager Raymond Chan, based in Sydney, was on leave and not available for comment when this issue went to press. ■