By Adria Calatayud
Barry Callebaut shares fell sharply after the chocolate maker warned of a profit hit from its new chief executive's plan to speed up a return to sales growth.
Shares in the Swiss company fell 16% in European morning trading Thursday, but are still up 44% compared with a year ago.
Barry Callebaut, which recently appointed former Unilever boss Hein Schumacher as its chief executive, is seeking to turn a page on a turbulent time due to cocoa-price volatility.
The chocolate industry is still reeling from wild swings in cocoa markets, after futures spiked to record highs in 2024 amid a supply squeeze and then experienced a major pullback. Manufacturers hiked prices of chocolate products and looked for alternatives to cocoa in response to the surge, prompting consumers to cut back on their purchases.
Barry Callebaut--which sells products under its own brands, but also supplies chocolate to companies including Oreo maker Mondelez International--forecast its recurring operating profit for the year ending in August would decline by a figure in the mid-teens percentage range. The company had previously expected an increase, and attributed the change to its actions to protect market share and prioritize growth amid significantly lower cocoa prices.
The company also said it expected a return to sales-volume growth in the second half, earlier than previously anticipated. It added that a significant and fast decline in cocoa prices supports a future chocolate-market recovery.
Schumacher said there was significant work to do to reinvigorate the company after a turbulent period of industry disruption and that its priority would be restoring volume growth. The speed of the market decline combined with industry overcapacity, volume declines and supply disruption hurt Barry Callebaut's earnings and led it to adjust its profitability outlook, he added.
For the half year to Feb. 28, the company reported a recurring operating profit of 310.9 million Swiss francs ($397.6 million), down 4.2% on year when excluding currency movements.
Revenue fell 3.7% excluding currency movements to 6.75 billion francs, with volumes down 6.9%. The company said volumes improved to a 3.6% decline in the second quarter.
Analysts had forecast recurring operating profit at 318 million francs and revenue at 6.99 billion francs, according to consensus estimates compiled by the company.
Net profit rose to 89.4 million francs from 32.1 million francs.
Barry Callebaut said it would provide an update on its growth plan in June.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 16, 2026 04:58 ET (08:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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