Evaluating impacts of COVID-19 on the financial performance of food and beverages industry in the UK: Case study of Nestle Plc

It has been established that COVID-19 affected the world economy with negative impacts on the profitability and financial performance of many businesses. This study evaluated the financial performance of Nestle Plc pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 epidemic and subsequent lockdown. The study used secondary data from the company’s audited annual financial reports (2017 - 2022). Financial data was collected and analysed using a mix of analytical methods such as descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and single ANOVA in Excel 2010. The financial ratios analysed include financial performance, profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, gearing ratios, and investors ratios. The results indicated that Nestle's financial performance was affected during the period of the COVID-19 lockdown between 2019 to 2021. However, based on the result for investor ratios (p-value = 0.708), the study states that there is not enough evidence to conclude. The study also identified limitations such as only Nestle used is not representative of the food and beverages industry as well as the number of ratios analysed. It recommended that further studies should include more players in the industry as well as the number of ratios with more companies in the food and beverages industry in the UK and perhaps outside of the UK.