Barry Callebaut: first-quarter sales miss forecasts
(CercleFinance.com) - Swiss chocolate and cocoa company Barry Callebaut said on Wednesday that its sales fell in the quarter to 30 November, with the group still citing "resilient results" in a "challenging environment.
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Sales volume reached 560,354 tonnes in the first quarter of its fiscal year, down 4.3%, slightly below an expected 3.6% decline, and in line with the 4.3% fall posted in the fourth quarter.
"The miss versus consensus comes from lower margin cocoa (smart growth strategy) while higher margin gourmet performed better than expected (market share gains)," analysts at UBS commented.
"While the first two month in the quarter should have been robust, we think November volumes declined impacted by accelerating consumer mobility restrictions," they noted.
In its statement, the Zurich-based company confirmed its mid-term guidance for 5%-7% growth in volume for the three years to 2022/23. Its shares were trading slightly lower (-0.4%) after the report.
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