The Swiss-based multinational food and drinks group, Nestle, has reported net income for 2002 of SF7.56 billion (US$5.58 billion/€5.17 billion), up 13% from SF6.68 billion in 2001.
Nestle’s sales rose by 5.3% to SF89.16 billion, while earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation were 9.5% up at SF10.94 billion.
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However, real internal growth (RIG) at the company, the figure which excludes the effects of currency, price changes, acquisitions and divestitures, stood at 3.4% for 2002, against 4.4% in 2001. But Nestle was not expected to achieve its RIG target of 4% because of weak Latin American markets and soft pet food sales.
On a market-by-market basis, the group registered higher sales growth in the US, Canada and Brazil than it recorded in 2001. However, the company said that economic conditions impacted on sales growth in Japan, Mexico and Argentina.
