Vevey, Switzerland  - Nestle boosted its net profit by 69.4 per cent in 2008, the company said Thursday, giving it gains of 18 billion Swiss francs (15.3 billion dollars).

The group's core business, its food and beverages section, produced sales of 102.4 billion francs and was the main contributor to growth.

Sales for the company rose 2.2 per cent to 109.9 billion francs, while its organic growth was 8.3 per cent.

Nestle's also sold off its 25 per cent stake in the eye care manufacturer Alcon to Novartis, a pharmaceutical company, contributing to its profits last year.

Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestle, said in a statement he had a positive outlook for his company in 2009 and "and we are committed to achieving organic growth at least approaching 5 per cent."

Also, the company would continue with a share buyback scheme. Last year it spent 8.7 billion francs buying back its own stock. (dpa)