Acquisitions abroad boosted annual sales at Swiss dairy group Emmi in 2012, figures releases today (7 February) showed.

The company booked a 9.6% increase in revenue last year to CHF2.98bn. However, on an organic basis, which excludes M&A and the impact of foreign exchange, sales fell 1.3%.

Takeovers accounted for over 10 percentage points of Emmi's increase in sales - and the impact was greater outside Switzerland. M&A boosted Emmi's international revenue by 35 percentage points.

Last year, Emmi increases its stakes in Spanish dairy Kaiku and France's Diprola. It also took a 24% stake in German organic dairy Gläserne Molkerei.

Emmi, which will publish its 2012 profits and outlook for 2013 in March, said its business outside Switzerland "exceeded expectations". It also insisted its organic sales were "in line with our forecasts" in a "continued challenging environment".