Big cos manage to pass on soaring costs to consumers

ZURICH, Apr 21 (Reuters): Makers of chocolate bars and coffee to lawn mowers and industrial robots succeeded in passing on soaring costs to consumers, first-quarter earnings showed on Thursday, allaying fears higher prices could dent demand for their products.
Some of Europe's biggest companies reported first quarter sales increases, with KitKat maker Nestle, Evian water owner Danone and Dulux paint maker Akzo Nobel, saying they were able to accomplish the gains while raising their prices.
Engineering company ABB and gardening equipment maker Husqvarna also reported strong demand despite both increasing prices.
"Pricing power does exist. Across multiple categories. In European food, it is called Nestle," said Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.
Outside Europe, Tesla surged past Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, as higher prices helped insulate the electric vehicle maker from supply chain chaos and rising costs.
But while cheering investors, with Nestle, ABB and Akzo Nobel enjoying share price gains, the strategy is stirring worries about households' ability to cope and the outlook for the rest of the year.
Rising interest rates and lagging pay deals are squeezing consumers, who are seeing their disposable incomes shrink and shopping bills rise.
There have been some signs in U.S. retail data that consumers have begun cutting back on discretionary spending amid high inflationand companies that thrived during the pandemic have lost some of their edge.
On Tuesday, Netflix Inc blamed inflation, the war in Ukraine and fierce competition on a loss of subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.
Nestle beat a 5.0% average forecast for the sales measure that strips out currency swings and M&A deals in a company-compiled consensus thanks to price increases of 5.2%.
"We stepped up pricing in a responsible manner and saw sustained consumer demand," the Swiss company, whose products include Purina pet food and Nespresso, said.