News

Callebaut makes steady start

26 Jan 2017

Barry Callebaut has announced 3-month key sales figures for fiscal year 2016/17, noting a steady start, with consistent above-market growth. Sales volume was flat (-0.4%) while sales revenues were up 3.2%.

Barry Callebaut has announced 3-month key sales figures for fiscal year 2016/17, noting a steady start, with consistent above-market growth.

Sales volume was flat (-0.4%), driven by above-market growth in chocolate (+2.3%) and the nearly completed phase-out of less profitable contracts in cocoa (-8.6%). Sales revenues were CHF

1.9 billion, up 3.2% in local currencies (+4.2% in CHF). Gourmet & Specialties continued to perform strongly, up +14.3%.

“We had a steady start to the year with the Cocoa Leadership project on track, all chocolate regions delivering solid growth above the market and Gourmet and Specialties performing very strongly,” said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of the Barry Callebaut Group. “Our ‘smart growth’ strategy is proving to be the right recipe for a continued challenging market environment.”

“We have good visibility on volume growth and expect acceleration in the second half of the fiscal year. We are on track to deliver improved profitability in our cocoa business. The ‘smart growth’ strategy will provide us with the right balance to focus on consistent above-market volume growth, enhanced profitability and free cash flow generation. We confirm our mid-term guidance through 2017/18 of on average: 4-6% volume growth and EBIT above volume growth in local currencies, barring any major unforeseen events.”