Nestlé has reported steady sales and profits for the first half of 2025, as the company continues to focus on growing key categories, cutting costs, and innovation.

For the six months ending 30 June the Swiss food and drink giant’s underlying trading profit margin was 16.5%, slightly down from last year due to rising costs and higher marketing spend.

Sales also came in at CHF 44.2bn, down slightly (-1.8%) due to “currency movements”, but organic sales growth rose by 2.9%, helped by strong pricing and innovation in areas like coffee, health, and snacking.

Nestlé said it had increased advertising to 8.6% of sales in a push to drive future growth.

The group said it was making progress in key areas, including turning around underperforming parts of the business and launching new products.

Its confectionery division experienced organic growth of 8.5% led by KitKat and continued momentum in chocobakery, while coffee posted mid single-digit growth boosted by the performance in soluble and ready-to-drink coffee.

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It added that six of its biggest innovation bets brought in over CHF 200m in sales so far this year.

Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe said: “We’re seeing real results from the changes we’re making, investing in areas where we can grow, simplifying the business, and improving efficiency.”

“We have maintained our guidance for 2025, while recognizing increased macroeconomic risks and uncertainties. We remain confident that our actions to drive performance and transformation will deliver our medium-term growth and profit ambitions.”

It also confirmed it was on track to save CHF 700m in 2025 as part of its ongoing cost-saving programme, Fuel for Growth.

Nestlé pointed to challenges in China as a drag on overall growth but said steps are now being taken to improve performance in the region.

The business also said it was refocusing its vitamins and supplements division, planning to double down on premium brands and review less profitable parts of the range.

Despite macroeconomic pressures, Nestlé kept its 2025 guidance unchanged, saying it expects growth to improve in the second half of the year.