By Giulia Petroni

Nestle SA said Thursday that first-half net profit rose, but that it experienced slower growth in the majority of its core markets in the second quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swiss food and beverage giant said net profit for the period was 5.9 billion Swiss francs ($6.44 billion) compared with CHF5.07 billion for the year-earlier period.

Sales came in at CHF41.15 billion, down from CHF45.46 billion. Real internal growth for the period was 2.6%, Nestle said, while organic growth reached 2.8%.

The company said Purina PetCare, dairy, culinary, coffee at home and Nestle health-science products reported a strong growth, while water and confectionery suffered a decline.

It also recorded a significant shift from out-of-home and on-the-go products to at-home consumption, with e-commerce sales growing by 49%.

For the full year, Nestle said it expects organic sales growth between 2% and 3%. It also expects the underlying trading operating profit margin to improve and an increase in underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency.

Nestle said the guidance is based on the assumptions that there won't be any material deterioration from the present conditions in relation to the coronavirus crisis. 



  Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com