Swiss dairy group Emmi today (31 March) told just-food that it was “likely” to make “tactical” acquisitions in 2010.

CFO Reto Conrad said Emmi had plans for acquisitions similar to its purchase of a 60% stake in yoghurt and dessert maker Nutrifrais last April.

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The company, which earlier today issued cautious sales and earnings targets for 2010, is looking to build its “premium” business in Switzerland and further grow its international operations, Conrad said.

The Emmi finance chief refused to be drawn on specific targets but said the company would look to M&A this year.

“It’s very likely that there is one or more than one [acquisition] this year. Tactical acquisitions like Nutrifrais,” Conrad said.

“Acquisitions is a very important priority for us. We have the strategic objective of increasing our international sales to 50% of total sales. They were just under CHF680m (US$645.7m) this year, so 25% of the total. We want to grow these by CHF2bn in five to seven years.”

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Emmi has forecast a 2-3% rise in international sales volumes in 2010, although the strength of the Swiss franc would continue to weigh on the revenues the company generates abroad, Conrad warned.

The group has forecast a 1% in domestic sales volumes and the combination of the two targets has led the company to state that it believes it can “maintain” the level of sales it booked in 2009.

Conrad said the cautious outlook was in tune with how Emmi forecasts its financial performance.

“We leave it to others to be more precise,” Conrad said. “The sales development is not cautious; it is pretty realistic.”