Geneva - Nestle Group announced Tuesday its first quarter sales dropped 2.1 per cent from the same period last year to 25.2 billion Swiss francs (21.56 billion dollars).

The company said it achieved organic growth of 3.8 per cent in the quarter and was on track to meet its goals of "at least" 5 per cent organic growth this year.

Organic growth, which does not take into account currency effects and acquisitions, was nearly 10 per cent in the first quarter of last year.

Nestle's core food and beverage section brought in 23.3 billion francs in sales. Its pet care line showed the largest organic growth at 11.5 per cent.

Water sales, however, continued to fall, in line with a growing trend of a decline in demand for bottled war, and saw a 4 per cent drop in real terms.

In regional terms, the company was weakest in Europe, with a 1.3 per cent decline in real internal growth and 0.5 per cent organic growth. In the Americas it saw 7.1 per cent organic growth and in Asia and Africa organic growth stood at 5.8 per cent.

Nestle said it was negatively impacted by the currency exchange rates, specifically the drop in the value of the franc from its strength last year. (dpa)