Nine-Month Sales

RNS Number:3118E
Nestle SA
21 October 2004

                Nestle:  Dynamic Growth in the Americas and Asia

                         Drives Strong Nine-Month Sales



*         Third quarter sales accelerated real internal growth to 2.9 percent
          for the nine months, resulting in 4.5 percent organic growth

*         Sales in Swiss francs stable at CHF 64.6 billion, in spite of the
          4.6 percent combined negative impact of foreign exchange fluctuations 
          and divestitures

*         A further improvement of real internal growth and organic growth in
          the last quarter is expected

*         Positive outlook for constant currency EBITA margin improvement for
          2004

*         GLOBE systems implemented in a further three key markets - Canada,
          the Philippines and Nestle Purina UK - bringing coverage to 12 
          countries and more than 10 percent of Group sales





Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, CEO of Nestle: "The acceleration of real internal growth
in the third quarter is the dividend from Nestle's increased investment in its
brands during the first half of the year. This benefit will continue through the
final quarter. Achieving 4.5 percent organic growth in spite of the competitive
situation in Europe in the first nine months demonstrates the unmatched
defensive qualities of Nestle.  These are due to a unique combination of
geographic spread and leadership positions in faster growth food categories. For
the full year I expect an improved constant currency EBITA margin."



Vevey, 21 October 2004  -  Consolidated sales of the Nestle Group reached CHF
64.6 billion during the first nine months of 2004.  Real internal growth
accelerated to 2.9 percent, while pricing added 1.6 percent, resulting in
organic growth of 4.5 percent.  Foreign exchange fluctuations had a negative
impact of 2.7 percent on consolidated Swiss franc sales, while divestitures, net
of acquisitions, reduced Swiss franc sales by a further 1.9 percent.




Sales by Management Responsibilities and Geographic Area

                               Jan.-Sept.     Jan.-Sept.     Jan.-Sept.           Jan.-Sept.
                               2004           2003           2004                 2004
                                                             Organic Growth       Real Internal Growth
                                      in CHF billion         (%)                  (RIG) (%)
Food
*  Europe (a)                  21.0           20.9           -0.3                 -1.4
*  Americas                    20.3           19.8           +8.3                 +5.3
*  Asia, Oceania and Africa    10.9           10.6           +6.7                 +4.4
Nestle Waters                  6.4            6.4            -0.6                 +1.1
Other Activities * (a)         6.0            6.9            +11.2                +9.7
Total                          64.6           64.6           +4.5                 +2.9



All calculations based on non-rounded sales figures

*        Essentially pharmaceutical products, joint ventures and, for 2003 only,
         "Trinks"

(a)      "Europe" restated for 2003 by excluding Eismann; "Other Activities"
         include Eismann





Zone Europe delivered organic growth of -0.3 percent, a slight improvement over
the first half of the year. Eastern Europe reached 10.7 percent organic growth,
while Western Europe, where competi-tive conditions continue to be challenging,
had organic growth of -1.4 percent.  The UK saw signifi-cant improvement in
growth from the half year as a result of a marked upswing in the Group's
choco-late and soluble coffee businesses there.



Zone Americas has performed very well this year, with organic growth of 8.3
percent.  Latin America achieved an impressive organic growth of 11.3 percent.
Mexico continued to be a key driver in the region with organic growth of 15.5
percent, and Brazil's expected improvement materialized with 5.0 percent organic
growth for the year to date.  All Nestle businesses in the USA did particularly
well, not least due to growth of over 20 percent in nutrition, a strong
acceleration of growth in frozen food and continued high growth in pet care.



Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa achieved organic growth of 6.7 percent.  Among
many strong per-formances, Greater China, the Philippines, the South/East
African region and the Middle East all achieved double-digit organic growth.
Japan experienced organic growth of -1.9 percent, reflecting the necessary
destocking of soluble coffee ahead of the Nescafe relaunch foreseen for October.
Chocolate sales continued to do well in Japan.



Nestle Waters experienced real internal growth of 1.1 percent, resulting in an
organic growth of  -0.6 percent. The excellent 14 percent real internal growth
in North America was offset by the tough comparison basis and by challenging
conditions in Europe.




                                         Sales by Product Groups
                                         Jan.-Sept.   Jan.-Sept.   Jan.-Sept.          Jan.-Sept.
                                         2004         2003         2004                2004
                                                                   Organic Growth      Real Internal Growth
                                              in CHF billion       (%)                (RIG) (%)
Beverages                                16.4         17.5         +2.5                +2.6
Milk Products, Nutrition and Ice Cream   18.0         17.6         +4.9                +1.7
Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids         11.6         11.5         +3.0                +1.7
PetCare                                  7.4          7.2          +6.9                +3.9
Chocolate, Confectionery and Biscuits    7.1          7.0          +4.4                +3.1
Pharmaceutical Products                  4.1          3.8          +11.5               +10.6
Total                                    64.6         64.6         +4.5                +2.9

All calculations based on non-rounded sales figures



Among the product categories, there was good organic growth from PetCare with
6.9 percent, from Milk Products, Nutrition and Ice Cream with 4.9 percent, and
Chocolate, Confectionery and Biscuits with 4.4 percent; whilst Prepared Dishes
and Cooking Aids accelerated to 3.0 percent.  Pharmaceu-tical products,
primarily Alcon, achieved an outstanding 11.5 percent organic growth.



The successful "Target 2004+" savings initiative will be completed at the end of
2004, after having achieved savings of over CHF 3 billion.  In January 2005,
Nestle will launch a new savings and effi-ciency program, called "Operation
EXCELLENCE 2007", targeting improvements in total delivered costs throughout the
entire supply chain, from purchasing to customer service.  Nestle expects this
initiative to deliver total savings of CHF 3 billion between 2005 and 2007.  The
on-going "FitNes" program will be extended until the end of 2007.



                                    Outlook



Nestle expects that accelerating real internal growth will yield an improved
constant currency EBITA margin for the year as a whole.  The various
cost-efficiency initiatives, as well as GLOBE, are on track to reach their
targets for 2004.  This performance, achieved in a highly competitive
environment, demonstrates that Nestle remains committed to both delivering
long-term, sustainable sales growth as well as improving operating margins and
return on invested capital.







Contacts:        Media:        Francois-Xavier Perroud     Tel.: [phone]
                 Investors:    Roddy Child-Villiers        Tel.: [phone]





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