date:Apr 16, 2014
company said it expected a continued strengthening of the Swiss franc to drag on its reported sales this year.
But it said a roll-out of new products was helping to sustain growth in difficult market conditions and it would keep innovating and supporting its brands.
Sales in local currency terms in the first quarter rose to 20.8 billion Swiss francs ($23.66 billion), short of the 21.46 billion consensus analyst forecast in a Reuters poll. Sales fell 5.1 percent in Swiss franc terms, hit by th