{"text":[[{"start":8,"text":"Nestlé has disclosed a SFr1.6bn ($1.95bn) hit to its balance sheet after the Kremlin seized its Russian operations last month as part of a new crackdown on western companies still operating in the country."}],[{"start":23.4,"text":"The Swiss food giant said on Thursday it had stopped including its Russian business in its results from the end of September after a presidential decree placed the business under temporary external administration."}],[{"start":35.3,"text":"“As we currently do not have control of the management of the operations in Russia, from the end of September 2026 the business is no longer being consolidated by Nestlé SA,” the company said in its nine-month sales update."}],[{"start":48.36,"text":"Nestlé said it remained the legal owner of the assets despite losing operational control."}],[{"start":53.64,"text":"The decision has resulted in the removal of approximately SFr1.6bn in net assets from its balance sheet and a further SFr1.4bn non-cash charge relating to accumulated currency translation adjustments. The company said the deconsolidation would adversely affect its net debt by about SFr900mn by the end of 2026, but it added that the move would have limited financial impact on its underlying results."}],[{"start":80.84,"text":"Russia had accounted for approximately 2 per cent of Nestlé’s annual sales and 3-4 per cent of underlying operating profit and free cash flow, about SFr1.7bn a year."}],[{"start":92.8,"text":"The move follows a September decree by President Vladimir Putin transferring control of Nestlé’s Russian operations to LEV Management, a little-known Moscow-based company. The decree also targeted French retailer Auchan and the Russian subsidiaries of several other western companies. A Kremlin spokesperson said the seizures were linked to countries Moscow considered “unfriendly”."}],[{"start":114.6,"text":"Nestlé, which has operated in Russia since the 1990s, was among the western consumer goods groups that continued operating in the country after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022."}],[{"start":126.56,"text":"The Kremlin has increasingly targeted western-owned businesses. French dairy group Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg previously had their Russian operations placed under temporary administration before being sold at steep discounts to Russian investors."}],[{"start":140.4,"text":"Nestlé disclosed the accounting changes alongside stronger than expected third-quarter sales. Organic revenues increased 4 per cent in the third quarter to SFr22.8bn ahead of analysts’ expectations of 3.4 per cent growth, helped by stronger demand for pet food and snacks."}],[{"start":158.8,"text":"Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said the deconsolidation of the Russia business brought “welcome clarity” and the company’s overall recovery was “gaining credibility”."}],[{"start":173.42,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792663940_9335.mp3"}