ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) - Nestle CEO Mark Schneider was ousted in a sudden move by the world's biggest foodmaker as a result of the group's underperformance, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The company announced Schneider's departure late on Thursday following a board meeting and appointed veteran Laurent Freixe as its new CEO. That put an end to a near eight-year tenure at the helm by the 58-year-old German, the first company outsider to lead Nestle in nearly a century.

Nestle declined to give further details beyond comments made on an investor call on Friday, where Chairman Paul Bulcke said the board together with Schneider had assessed the current environment and together had agreed to make the change.

Schneider had made it clear recently he expected to be around for the long haul, Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said.

The suddenness of the move "is another sign that this is not a planned transition. It is clearly not his choice either, or he probably would have managed a smoother transition," he said.