Swiss food giant Nestle said today that its net profit rose 15.8% last year to 10.65 billion Swiss francs (€6.6 billion) with growth expected in 2008. Sales grew by 9.2% in 2007 to 107.6 billion Swiss francs.
The net profit result is higher than analysts' forecasts, which had centered around the 10.34 billion Swiss franc mark.
'This milestone performance was achieved in a difficult external environment,' said company chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. For 2008, Nestle is targeting organic growth of between 5-6%, against 7.4% in the year just ended.
The company said its Food and Beverages unit was the main growth driver with sales of 100.3 billion Swiss francs and organic growth of 7.1%.
'Timely pricing actions, scale efficencies, and cost reduction initiatives' all helped the unit more than offset higher raw material and energy costs in 2007, Nestle said.
In Europe, Food and Beverages recorded sales of 28.5 billion Swiss francs, with double-digit growth in eastern Europe and positive trends in key Western markets such as Germany, France and Britain.
'Moevenpick of Switzerland did particularly well as a pan-European super-premium ice cream brand,' Nestle noted. The unit's chocolate products also fared well in Europe due to a 'renewed focus on strategic brands,' particularly in Britain, the company added.
