Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food and drinks maker, predicted another challenging year ahead but overcame tough global economic conditions to post a full-year net profit Thursday of $11.55 billion for 2012.

With 330,000 employees worldwide and 461 factories in 83 countries, Nestle is a major buyer of food commodities such as wheat, sugar, milk and coffee and its results are a good indicator of consumer demand in various regions of the world and the health of the global economy as a whole.