ZURICH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Nestle investors were pitched

back into choppy waters on Tuesday after the Swiss food giant

changed its CEO for the second time in a year, ousting boss

Laurent Freixe over an affair he had with a subordinate.

Freixe's sudden replacement by Philipp Navratil, a rising

star of the company, is the latest setback to hit the maker of

Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars, which has been

struggling to turn around a sustained slide in its share price

after an uneven performance since the pandemic.

The dismissal of Freixe follows an investigation into an

undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate

which breached Nestle's Code of Business Conduct, Nestle said

late on

Monday

.

His abrupt removal comes a year after predecessor Mark

Schneider suddenly departed, and 2-1/2 months after longstanding

chair Paul Bulcke announced he would step down in 2026 in one of

the most turbulent periods in the company's history.

Nestle's shares, a bedrock of the Swiss stock exchange, have

lost almost a third of their value over the past five years,

underperforming European peers.

Freixe's appointment failed to halt the slide, with the

company's shares shedding 17% since, disappointing investors.

In July, Nestle launched a review of its underperforming

vitamins business that could lead to the divestment of some

brands after first-half sales volumes missed expectations.

Now the scandal over Freixe's relationship has embroiled

the company in fresh turmoil.

The latest change is likely to leave questions unanswered

about Nestle's mid-term direction and "keep a lid on the equity

story until we hear more about Mr. Navratil's plan," JP Morgan

analysts said in a research note.

The bank's analysts said the news of Freixe's ouster was

unlikely to reassure investors because it was the second time in

a year that the company had appointed a new boss without

carrying out a thorough search for a replacement.

The note also expressed concern that incoming CEO Navratil

looked as though he would be "boxed in" by Freixe's turnaround

strategy for now at a time when the market remained unconvinced.

Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said he

expected Nestle's shares to come under pressure due to the

latest upheaval at Nestle's HQ in Vevey, next to Lake Geneva.

"This is not the Nestle way to do things, to have two

CEO replacements in just over a year," Cox said. "Hopefully this

will get them back on the straight and narrow."

(Writing by Dave Graham and John Revill; Editing by Andrea

Ricci)