Nestle profits reach record level

Nestlé posted a higher-than-expected 13.8 per cent rise in 2006 net profit.

Nestlé posted a higher-than-expected 13.8 per cent rise in 2006 net profit.

Net profit was 9.2 billion Swiss francs, a fresh record for the world's largest food group, beating the nine-billion-francs average forecast.

The Swiss group said its food and beverage business was the main driver of its 2006 growth.

Sales of the designer Nespresso coffee machine rose 42 per cent last year, while chocolate milk drinks, ice cream and nutrition products also performed well.

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The company said it would accelerate its transformation "into a nutrition, health and wellness company" in 2007, and would invest more in brands and research and development.

At the group level, sales rose 8.1 per cent in 2006 to 98.5 billion francs, just above expectations for 98.3 billion francs.

Nestlé's organic growth - which strips out foreign exchange shifts and the effects of acquisitions - at 6.2 per cent matched its 2005 result and beat analyst forecasts for a 6 per cent rise. Pharmaceuticals and water products had robust organic growth in 2006, it said.