Emmi said today (18 August) that its first-half sales decline was "better than expected" and booked an increase in profits during the period on the back of stronger margins.

The Swiss dairy firm said sales totalled CHF1.56bn (US$1.59bn), versus CHF1.62bn last year. "This is slightly better than expected. It shows that Emmi has coped well with the negative trend of the euro," the company – which generates a significant proportion of its sales in Europe – said.

EBITDA climbed to CHF142m, compared to CHF133.8m in the comparable period of last year. Net profit increased to CHF46.2m on a margin of 3%, against last year's net profit of CHF9.8m on a margin of 0.6% of sales.

Urs Riedener, CEO of Emmi, said: "This encouraging performance is mainly due to the range of measures that have been consistently applied since the beginning of the year, as well as enhanced earnings in the Europe and Americas business divisions. Our goal in the second half of the year is to keep the decline in sales within reasonable limits – particularly in Switzerland."

The company said its domestic sales were being dented by a decline in tourism due to the strong Swiss franc as well as competition from imported products.

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