Nestle S.A.

That said, COVID-19 has led to higher operating costs due notably to lower capacity utilization in factories, higher distribution costs, and low revenues from home and foodservice channels. Two categories have been impacted by weaker demand: water and confectionary. Water has a large exposure to the foodservice channel and away from home consumption while confectionary suffered from a lower level of impulse purchases and gifts. Online sales have grown very strongly in recent months and helped, to some extent, offset the store closures of premium coffee brand Nespresso. The stable outlook reflects our view that Nestlé will maintain its leading global market positions in key categories, execute well its portfolio reshaping toward higher-growth categories and emerging markets, and continue implementing

...Overall the business and geographical diversity has supported a resilient operating performance in 2020. NestlT is well positioned in our view to overcome headwinds from COVID-19 disruptions. The group is in staples food and beverage categories with solid underlying demand as demonstrated by positive organic growth so far in 2020. About 75% of its products in the mid-price range which will help maintain stable volumes as the middle class in many countries will face affordability issues. NestlT's largest categories like petcare, infant nutrition, and prepared dishes have all benefited from strong demand. That said, COVID-19 has led to higher operating costs due notably to lower capacity utilization in factories, higher distribution costs, and low revenues from home and foodservice channels. Two categories have been impacted by weaker demand: water and confectionary. Water has a large exposure to the foodservice channel and away from home consumption while confectionary suffered from a lower...

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