UPDATE 2-New Nestle CEO will stick to current strategy

(Adds more comments by company, analystS, share reaction)

By Sam Cage

ZURICH, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Nestle's (NESN.VX) Chief Executive designate Paul Bulcke stressed on Friday he will stick to the world's largest food company's current strategy, targeting annual underlying sales growth of 5 to 6 percent.

Bulcke, currently head of Nestle's Americas operations, was the surprise choice as new CEO on Thursday as it was widely expected the Swiss company would name Chief Financial Officer Paul Polman to replace current Chief Executive Peter Brabeck.

The 53-year old Belgian national, who takes over next April, said his most important priority was to deliver the Nestle model of growing annual underlying sales 5-6 percent, see a sustained profit margin improvement and a good return on invested capital.

"I feel 5, 6 percent is not a bad thing to have, we have prices going up and all that, we have to see," Bulcke said on a conference call. "I would confirm this model over time... where we can do more we will do more."

Nestle shares had fallen 3.6 percent on Thursday after the surprise decision, but recovered on Friday and were up 1.76 percent at 519 Swiss francs by 0845 GMT.

Bulcke faces the task of continuing Nestle's evolution from a mass distributor of commodity based foods like milk and breakfast cereal into a nutrition and fitness firm focused on sparkling waters, performance foods and healthy lifestyles.

Under Brabeck, Nestle was quick to seize on healthy trends that favoured diet and sport foods, customised hospital nutrition and mineral water, as opposed to candy, chips and sweetened drinks.