Barry Callebaut: significant top-line growth

In the past fiscal year 2012/13 (ended August 31, 2013), Barry Callebaut strongly increased its sales volume by 11.4% to 1.536 m tonnes. Excluding the recently acquired cocoa business, the Group accelerated the pace of its volume growth in the second half to + 8.7% for the full year. This growth, which was considerably above the global market (+ 1.6% in volume, source: Nielsen, September 2012 – August 2013) was achieved in a partly challenging economic environment. All Regions and Product Groups contributed to this exceptional growth. Sales revenue was + 0.6% in local currencies (+ 1.1% in Swiss Francs) and came in at Swiss Francs 4.884 bn. On a stand-alone basis, sales revenue decreased by 1.9% in local currencies (- 1.5% in Francs) to Francs 4.756 bn. This reflects the lower average raw material prices compared to the prior year.

According to the company, product margins further improved across all Regions and Product Groups in the second half of the fiscal year. The negative impact from the combined cocoa ratio slowed in the second half, but was still apparent. Capacity constraints due to the strong volume growth led to additional factory and supply chain costs. Gross profit increased by 8.1% in local currencies (+ 8.3% in Francs) to Francs 728.5 m. Stand-alone gross profit was + 9.3% in local currencies (+ 9.6% in Francs) at Francs 737.0 m. On a stand-alone basis, operating profit (EBIT) gained momentum with a solid increase of 4.2% in local currencies (+ 4.4% in Francs) to Francs 368.8 m, supported by the good performance of Gourmet, partly offset by some (one-off) costs and selective investments in structures and processes.

Total EBIT declined by 4.0% in local currencies (- 3.9% in Francs) to Francs 339.6 m, impacted by one-off costs related to the acquisition of the cocoa business from Petra Foods and the expected operational loss of this business. Total net profit for the year from continuing operations was 5.4% lower in local currencies (- 4.9% in Francs) at Francs 229.3 m, resulting from the lower total EBIT.

CEO Juergen Steinemann on the outlook: “Based on the visibility on our business, I am confident that we will be able to maintain our fast growth pace. We will continue to focus on further improving our margins and profitability. The integration of the newly acquired cocoa business, together with the realization of the identified synergies, will be given top priority. We confirm our guidance” (as of consolidation of the recently acquired cocoa business: 6-8% average volume growth per year, and EBIT per tonne restored to pre-acquisition level by 2015/16 at Francs 256 per tonne – barring any major unforeseen events).

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