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Food and beverage giant Nestlé announced it will remove 16,000 roles during the upcoming biennium, as its new CEO Philipp Navratil pushes a strategy to concentrate on products offering the “greatest profit margins”.

The Swiss company needs to “evolve at a quicker pace” to remain competitive in a changing world and embrace a “results-oriented culture” that does not accept ceding ground to competitors, according to the CEO.

He took over from former CEO Laurent Freixe, who was dismissed in last fall.

These workforce reductions were disclosed on Thursday as Nestlé reported better sales figures for the first three-quarters of the current year, with expanded revenue across its key product lines, such as hot drinks and snacks.

Globally dominant consumer packaged goods company, this industry leader operates hundreds of labels, among them Nescafé, KitKat and Maggi.

The company aims to eliminate twelve thousand professional positions in addition to 4,000 other roles throughout the organization during the next biennium, it said in a statement.

The workforce reduction will result in savings of the corporation around 1bn SFr (£940m) per annum as a component of an continuous efficiency drive, it said.

The company's stock value was up by more than seven percent soon after its quarterly update and restructuring news were announced.

The CEO stated: “We are building a culture that embraces a performance mindset, that refuses to tolerate losing market share, and where winning is rewarded... The marketplace is evolving, and the company requires accelerated transformation.”

Such change would include “hard but necessary decisions to trim the workforce,” he noted.

Market analyst a financial commentator remarked the update suggested that the new CEO aims to “enhance clarity to areas that were previously more opaque in its expense reduction initiatives.”

The job cuts, she noted, appear to be an attempt to “adjust outlooks and rebuild investor confidence through tangible steps.”

Mr Navratil's predecessor was dismissed by the company in the start of last fall following a probe into whistleblower allegations that he omitted to reveal a personal involvement with a direct subordinate.

The former board leader the ex-chairman moved up his departure date and left his post in the corresponding timeframe.

Media stated at the period that shareholders attributed responsibility to the former chairman for the corporation's persistent issues.

In the prior year, an inquiry found infant nutrition items from the company available in emerging markets contained unhealthily high levels of sugar.

The research, conducted by non-profit organizations, established that in several situations, the same products available in wealthy countries had no added sugar.

• The corporation manages a wide array of brands internationally.
• Workforce reductions will impact sixteen thousand workers during the coming 24 months.
• Savings are anticipated to total one billion Swiss francs annually.
• Share price increased 7.5% following the update.