LONDON: Nestle on Thursday missed first-quarter organic sales growth estimates as the world’s biggest packaged food company hiked prices and sold fewer products.

The maker of Maggi noodles and KitKat chocolate wafer bars confirmed its 2024 guidance of organic sales growth of about 4% and a moderate increase in underlying trading profit margin.

Organic sales, which exclude the impact of currency movements and acquisitions, rose 1.4% in the first quarter ended March, the maker of Maggi stock cubes and Nescafe coffee said. Analysts had on average expected organic sales growth of 2.9%.

“We had expected a slow start and see a strong rebound in RIG (sales volumes) in the second quarter with reliable delivery for the remainder of the year,” CEO Mark Schneider said in a statement.