Barry Callebaut optimism despite lower demand
Barry Callebaut has seen stagnating demand for chocolate this year yet has seen revenue edge up 1.5% to 1.45 billion Swiss francs in the first quarter of its 2009/2010 fiscal year ending 30 November 2009, according to its latest financial statement.
Sales revenue increased by 6.3% in local currencies, but was severely impacted by adverse currency translation effects.
The company succeeded in growing its sales volume by 7.2% to 362,973 tonnes, mostly spread evenly across regions and product groups. The most significant volume increases were noted in Region Asia (+17.7%), Region Americas (+15.6%) and in Global Sourcing & Cocoa (+14.0%).
CEO Juergen Steinemann, says, “After a volume contraction of the global chocolate market by more than 2% in the past fiscal year in the wake of the worldwide economic crisis, we believe the decline has bottomed out and expect the global chocolate market to remain flat in volume terms in 2010. We attribute our own success in this tough economic environment to the ongoing implementation of previously signed outsourcing deals, the strong sales performance of our Gourmet & Specialties products as well as market share gains in all regions. Despite the still unfavourable combined cocoa ratio, we are confident that we will continue to significantly outperform the global chocolate market and be able to achieve our three-year financial targets.”
Cocoa terminal market prices further advanced during the quarter and reached a 33-year high in London in December 2009 amidst fund buying and increased concerns over the size of the 2009/10 crop in Ivory Coast and Ghana. In Europe, fresh milk production is now seasonally increasing, and overall, dairy prices are showing their first slight decline since last August. World sugar prices have continued to rise and have now reached a level that is close to the regulated EU sugar prices.
