Swiss chocolate products manufacturer Barry Callebaut has reported that its net profit for the fiscal year 2011/12 declined 8.5% to CHF241.1m ($255.49m), compared to CHF263.6m ($279.34m) in the same period the previous year, due to higher financing expenses and less favourable tax mix.
Sales revenue increased 8.3% to CHF4.82bn ($5.10bn), compared to CHF4.45bn ($4.71bn) in 2011, while sales volume rose by 8.7% to 1,378,856 tons - up from 1,268,925 tons last year.
Barry Callebaut CEO Juergen Steinemann said that the company experienced high volume growth and the overall business activity was strong both in developed and emerging markets.
Factors such as investments in factories, structures, Gourmet business and sustainable cocoa as well as ramp-up costs linked to various partnership agreements, affected the bottom-line results, Steinemann added.
For the next fiscal year, the company plans to finalize the various investments in capacities and structures in order to achieve profitable growth.
Barry Callebaut has stood by its mid-term guidance of 6-8% growth in volume and EBIT on an average until 2014-15.
