From Zara to Nestle for Pablo Isla

Nestle shareholders recently approved Spanish businessman Pablo Isla as the company’s new vice-chairman.

The appointment makes Isla the second most-important member of the Nestle board after chairman Paul Buicke.

Isla, Inditex chairman until 2022 and financial adviser to the Cinven private equity fund, was elected to the board of Nestle, the world’s largest food company, in 2022 on the strength of his “extensive experience” in the retail sector.

He takes over from Henri de Castries who occupied the vice-chairman post for the last 12 years but did not seek re-election owing to the company’s regulations.

Nestle’s 2023 results presented in late February revealed a 21 per cent increase in net profits of 11.2 billion Swiss francs (€11.75 billion).

Although Nestle’s prices increased by 7.5 per cent in 2023, revenues dipped by 1.5 per cent to 93 billion Swiss francs (€97.5 billion) as sales failed to pick up after the pandemic.