Nestle chairman Donati gets 5-yr extension

The board of Nestle India on Friday extended the term of company chairman and managing director Carlo M Donati to the next five years.

Donati had joined the company on July 1, 1998, as its managing director for a five-year term. He was later elevated to chairman & managing director.

Donati joined the Vevey, Switzerland-based parent as a salesman in 1973 and rose rapidly to senior marketing positions. He has served the company in nine countries spread over three continents.

Before taking over the reins of the Indian operations, he had another stint in the country as part of the marketing team of Nestle India.

While Donati has been at the head of Nestle India, the company's sales increased 28 per cent, from Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) in 1998 to Rs 2047.7 crore (Rs 20.47 billion) in 2002.

The net profit during the period jumped 133 per cent to Rs 201.5 crore (Rs 2.01 billion) from Rs 86.18 crore (Rs 861.8 million).

The Nestle India board also approved the company's accounts for 2002. The company clocked a 16.4 per cent growth in net profit from Rs 173.15 crore (Rs 1.73 billion) in 2001 to Rs 201.52 crore (Rs 2.01 billion) in 2002.

"The net profit has been positively impacted by effective control over costs coupled with benefits resulting from favourable commodity prices during the first half of 2002 and reversal of a provision of Rs 58.3 million under ‘other expenditure' due to a favourable decision in litigation," a company statement said.

Lower interest costs due to improved cash flows/lower interest rates has also contributed to the increase in net profit, it added.

Commenting on the company's performance, Donati said: "The steady growth in sales and profits in the depressed economic environment is an outstanding achievement. Nestle India team has again demonstrated its ability to stay focused in its efforts for business excellence and continuous innovation and renovation to deliver value to consumers."

Nestle India also registered a 12.4 per cent in domestic sales from Rs 1,611.09 crore (Rs 16.11 billion) in 2001 to Rs 1,811.47 crore (Rs 18.11 billion) in 2002.

Exports, however, declined by 23.8 per cent to touch Rs 236.23 crore (Rs 2.36 billion) in 2002 from Rs 309.9 crore (Rs 3.09 billion) in 2001.

The decline happened mainly because of lower realisation on instant coffee exports to Russia, due to depressed prices of green coffee, ocean freight and a product mix that favoured low realisation bulk packs as compared to the previous year.

The net sales of the company, thus, increased by 6.6 per cent to clock Rs 2,047.7 crore (Rs 20.47 billion) in 2002 from Rs 1,921 crore (Rs 19.21 billion) in 2001.