Nestle Transfers Russian Assets to Temporary Management and Records Deconsolidation
The Swiss company Nestle included its Russian assets in its nine-month financial statement, excluding them from consolidated figures. This decision was linked to the transfer of operations to temporary management: while Nestle retains legal ownership, the group no longer controls operational activities in Russia.
Before deconsolidation, the Russian business accounted for about 2% of Nestle's total revenue and approximately 3–4% of its free cash flow. The reorganization of the group reduced the valuation of net assets by 1.6 billion Swiss francs.
An order transferring Nestle's Russian assets to temporary management was signed by President Vladimir Putin on September 17. The managing entity is JSC "L.E.V. Management". Other Russian subsidiaries transferred include Auchan, FM Logistics, Bati Logistics, and "Le Monlid", previously operating under the name "Leroy Merlin".
In the third quarter, Nestle's revenue reached 22.76 billion francs, or about $27.72 billion, compared to 21.64 billion francs a year earlier, reflecting a yearly growth of 5.2% and an organic growth of 4%. These results exceeded the expectations of analysts surveyed by the company, who anticipated 22.49 billion francs in revenue with organic growth of 3.4%. The contribution from price increases was 1.1 percentage points, while changes in sales volume and assortment contributed 2.8 points.
Quarterly sales in North and South America increased by 6.5% to 10.09 billion francs. In the Asia, Africa, and Oceania regions, sales rose by 6.6% to 5.34 billion francs, and in Europe by 1.3% to 4.68 billion francs. Revenue from coffee and Nespresso coffee machines grew by 3.8% to 1.59 billion francs. In the water and premium beverages category, income increased by 10.8% to 1.03 billion francs.
Nestle maintained its forecast of 3–4% organic revenue growth for 2026. Expectations for free cash flow also remained unchanged, exceeding 9 billion francs. The group's portfolio includes over 2,000 brands such as Nescafe, KitKat, Gerber, Maggi, Perrier, and Purina, with products sold in 185 countries, employing around 271,000 people.
