Swiss chocolate group Barry Callebaut booked an increase in first-quarter sales today (13 January) – but said it expects the global chocolate market to remain “flat” in 2010.
Recording a 6.3% rise in revenue in local currencies for the three months to the end of November, the firm said it expects the industry to return to growth from 2011. Barry Callebaut said, however, that it was confident it would “outperform” the sector this year.
Nevertheless, Barry Callebaut’s sales were “severely impacted” by adverse currency effects. In Swiss francs, the company’s reporting currency, reveenue came in at CHF1.45bn (US$1.43m), a rise of 1.5%.
Sales volume grew 7.2% to 362,973 tonnes. All regions and – on a like-for-like-basis – all product groups, contributed to the growth, the company said.
The most significant volume increases were noted in Asia, where volumes were up 17.7%, in the Americas, where volumes rose 15.6% and Barry Callebaut’s global sourcing and cocoa division, which saw volumes climb 14%.
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By GlobalData“We are very pleased about our significant sales volume growth in the first three months of our current fiscal year,” said Barry Callebaut CEO Juergen Steinemann. “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.”
In Europe, sales revenue increased 0.7% in local currencies, but due to negative currency translation effects, the region saw sales fall by 2.9% in Swiss francs to CHF917.4m.
In the Americas, the weak US-dollar negatively affected sales revenue. While sales revenue was up 14.3% in local currencies, the increase in Swiss francs was only 4%. Sales came in at CHF248.5m.
Revenue growth in the firm’s Asian market, which was 18.7% in local currencies, was also dampened by currency effects. In Swiss francs, the growth rate was 14.1% and sales revenue amounted to CHF52.7m.
