ZURICH, May 31 Reuters Shares in Swiss consumer goods company Nestle posted further gains on Friday morning after a rally a day earlier sparked by upbeat comments from CEO Mark Schneider.

Shares in Nestle rose by as much as 2.1 after jumping by more than 3 on Thursday, when Schneider said during a fireside chat with JPMorgan that business was noticeably picking up pace after a slow start to the year.

The stock later pared early gains somewhat.

Schneider, who said the firm was sticking to its target of around 4 organic sales growth this year, noted that brand support and significant innovation hitting the shelves would help underpin strong real internal growth this quarter.

Nestle39;s stock, which has been drifting downwards since early 2022, is still more than 3 lower in 2024.

Analysts at Barclays said in a note entitled stabilizing the supertanker that the expected improvement is not due to an assumption of a better consumer backdrop, but rather actions Nestle is taking to step up innovation and fix pending issues.

Noting that Schneider had done a pretty convincing job addressing the key bear points, Barclays added, however Of course the numbers will really do the talking and they are 39;not out of the woods,39; and obviously still need to string together a few consistent quarters of steady delivery with no surprises.

Reporting by Dave Graham and Oliver Hirt, Editing by Rachel More

Source Reuters