Zurich - The world's biggest food
company Nestle on Thursday posted an 8.9% increase in first-half net
profit, driven by gains in emerging market countries.
Net profit for the January-June period
was 5.1bn Swiss francs ($5.2 billion), the company said in a
statement. The result was slightly higher than the 4.9bn francs
profit forecast by analysts surveyed by Swiss agency AWP.
Operating profit rose 6.9% to 6.6bn
Swiss francs while sales were up 7.5% at €44.1bn.
Nestle said sales increased 12.9% in
emerging markets compared with 2.6% growth in developed countries.
"Our growth in the first half and
our current operational margin ... allow us to reconfirm our forecast
for the entire year," chairperson Paul Bulcke said in the
statement.
Nestle expects full-year growth of
between 5% to 6% but the food giant also warned that "the
challenging business environment will continue in the second half,
especially in the developed markets."
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