PETALING JAYA: Nestle (M) Bhd turned in a higher net profit for its first quarter ended March 31 but warned that it sees “growth levelling down from current high levels” in the coming quarters.

       The food and beverage (F&B) manufacturer said it made RM205.18mil for the period under review, up from RM175.16mil in the same period a year earlier.

       Revenue for the period stood at RM1.69bil against RM1.45bil a year ago.

       Chief executive officer Juan Aranols said in a statement that the global environment remained very challenging, with widespread inflation gaining traction across the world, and also in Asia.

       This was further aggravated by the war in Ukraine impacting further prices and availability of key food commodities such as wheat, barley and sunflower oils, he said.

       “Overall, 2022 is shaping as a year of solid growth in the top line and some pressure on the bottom line as we do our best to balance the tensions on our cost value chain with internal efficiencies and moderate price increases.

       “Despite the foreseeable hurdles, we aim to continue leveraging on all possible opportunities to drive another year of solid and resilient results, while making meaningful progress in our Environmental, Social and Governance agenda to contribute to Malaysia’s sustainable progress,” Aranols said.

       For the quarter under review, Nestle saw higher domestic and export sales, growing 14.9% and 25.3%, respectively.

       Strong performance in both the core F&B and the out-of-home businesses under Nestle Professional has benefitted from the increased mobility and re-opening of the hotel, restaurant and cafe channels post-lockdown, the group said.