Nestle has unveiled a 1.6 billion Swiss francs (£1.46 billion) hit to its balance sheet from losing control of its operations in Russia after the business was seized by president Vladimir Putin.

The Swiss food giant – which is behind brands like KitKat , Nescafe and Cheerios – nonetheless said its sales had grown in the third quarter, despite increasing prices at a slower rate.

Nestle said a presidential decree had placed its Russian business under temporary external administration last month.

“The group remains the legal owner of the assets,” it said.

“As we currently do not have control of the management of the operations in Russia, from the end of September 2026, the business is no longer being consolidated by Nestle SA.”

This indicates it has stopped including the Russian assets within its balance sheet.

Nestle’s announcement indicates it has stopped including the Russian assets within its balance sheet (Alamy/PA)

The Kremlin takeover of Nestle’s Russian assets, alongside those of French…