Switzerland-based multinational Nestle has released its financial statement for 2014, showing an increase in organic sales over the prior year period.
Nestle said that total sales of CHF 91.6 billion ($96.9 billion) for the year represented 4.5% organic growth and 2.3% real internal growth over 2013, despite an actual fall of 0.6% due to negative foreign exchange.
Net profit meanwhile rose CHF 4.4 billion to CHF 14.5 billion ($15.3 billion). The increase also reflectec the profit realised on the disposal of part of the stake in L’Oreal and the revaluation gain on the 50% of Galderma already held when the Group brought its ownership from 50% to 100%, the company said.
On a geographic basis, Nestle said its organic growth was broad-based, standing at 5.4% in the Americas, 1.9% in Europe and 5.7% in Asia, Oceania and Africa. Business in developed markets grew 1.1%, while emerging markets business grew 8.9%, it added.
Paul Bulcke, Nestle CEO, commented: “ These are strong results, building on the good growth of past years and delivered in a soft trading environment. While delivering in the short term, we remain focused on our business long term, strengthening the foundations of future growth. We expect 2015 to be similar to 2014 and we aim to achieve organic growth of around 5% with improvements in margins, underlying earnings per share in constant currencies and capital efficiency”.