VEVEY, Switzerland (Reuters) - Nestle's (>> Nestle SA) new chief executive said on Thursday the company's 23 percent stake in French cosmetics firm L'Oreal (>> L'Oreal) was a significant and strategic asset and any change would have to be done very carefully.

"L'Oreal is a significant investment and anything you do on the equity would have to be done very prudently," Mark Schneider told a new conference, adding L'Oreal had delivered "stellar results" and was a "strategic asset."

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz)

Stocks treated in this article : L'Oreal, Nestle SA