Nestle, the world's biggest food and drink company, says it expects 2014 to be just as challenging as last year amid weaker growth in emerging markets along with falling prices and deflationary pressure in Europe.
The Vevey, Switzerland-based company says it expects improvement in the second half and about 5 per cent organic sales growth for 2014, which does not reflect acquisitions and currency fluctuations.
Nestle's said in a statement on Thursday that 2013 net profit fell to 10 billion Swiss francs ($A12.33 billion), down from 10.6 billion francs in 2012.
The results from the maker of Nescafe, Perrier, Jenny Craig and Haagen Dazs compare with full-year 2011 profit of 9.5 billion Swiss francs.
CEO Paul Bulcke said the "macro-environment in 2013 was one of soft growth" and 2014 will likely be just as challenging.
