Still, the Group, the largest global cocoa and chocolate supplier, saw a 57% jump in sales due to higher prices passed on to its clients. Sales revenue amounted to CHF 7,287.1 million ($8623.53m), up +63.1% in local currencies (+56.9% in CHF).
"The short-term pain from the unprecedented cocoa price spike and volatility is worse than we anticipated for the company," Kepler Cheuvreux's analyst Jon Cox told Reuters, as the group's Half-Year Results, published today, forecast a mid-single-digit percentage decrease in its cocoa sales volume for the financial year ending on 31 August.
The FT reported that Barry Callebaut’s stock fell almost 20% to a 12-year low on Thursday after the Swiss chocolatier revised down its sales forecast for the year.
“We are playing to win as we navigate the disruptive market environment. The intense cocoa bean price volatility had a significant impact on the industry, customer behaviour and our financial performance in H1 24/25,” said Peter Feld, CEO of Barry Callebaut Group, in a statement.
“Yet the market challenges further underpin the rationale and importance of BC Next Level to unlock sustainable profitable growth. We made strong progress on important initiatives in the first half, including all social plans [redudancies] completed, FTE rightsizing, implementation of our four Global Business Services (GBS) hubs, four factory closures and SKU simplification ahead of plan.”
Speaking to the FT, Andreas von Arx, an analyst from Baader Trading, said Barry Callebaut had “previously made the case that they could pass on the higher financial costs due to the [higher cocoa bean prices] immediately to customers. And that is now not the case."
BC Next Level
The unprecedented bean price volatility and market disruption further underpin the importance of Barry Callebaut's strategic investment programme, BC Next Level. The programme brings the company closer to markets and customers while fostering simplicity and digitalization with a net investment of CHF 500 million.
However, given the highly disruptive and volatile environment, the Group expects a 12-month delay for BC Next Level savings to be fully reflected in the bottom line. The company confirms its initial plan of CHF 250 million of cost savings, with 75% flowing through.
Global cocoa
The Group’s sales volume for Global Cocoa declined -5.6% as the business prioritized volume in the supply-constrained environment and saw a negative demand impact from significant cocoa bean price increases, particularly in AMEA and CEE regions.
BC’s sales volume for Global Chocolate decreased by -4.5% in a declining global chocolate confectionery market according to latest research by Nielsen (-2.4%).
Market dynamics significantly impacted Food Manufacturers (-5.6%) with large pricing actions, historically low levels of customer orders, and other short-term changes to customer behaviour given the volatility.
Barry Callebaut said its Gourmet (+0.7%) delivered positive growth, recovering in the second quarter with resilient demand across most regions.
Anthony Myers
Latin America
Looking at regional performance within BC’s Global Chocolate, Latin America (+7.5%) was the strongest contributor to volume performance, with solid demand across clusters supported by innovative customer solutions.
Refinancing measures
Given the more than 95% increase in cocoa bean prices in the first half of 2024/25, Barry Callebaut secured significant additional liquidity to navigate the market disruption and ensure bean coverage into 2026.
The Group successfully issued a CHF 300 million Swiss franc bond in January 2025 and an oversubscribed EUR 1,750 million Euro bond in February 2025. Both issuances demonstrate continued support from the investment community and the strength of long-standing banking relationships.
Guidance
In the context of a challenging and volatile operating environment, the Group has adjusted its volume outlook for the fiscal year 2024/25. Barry Callebaut now expects a mid single-digit decrease in sales volume and reiterates a double-digit increase in EBIT recurring growth in constant currency.
The Group reiterates its previous communication that the dividend per share will not be lower during the BC Next Level transition period than in the fiscal year 2023/24.
Anthony Myers
Sustainability
In this year’s Chocolate Scorecard, which ranks companies and organizations across various sustainability measures, Barry Callebaut scored 18 of 39 in the medium to large companies category.
“We are building an even stronger supply network in North America, with plans to significantly expand capacity in the US, in addition to the recent investment in Brantford (Canada). At the same time, we are taking decisive strategic steps to enhance our operating and financing model in the new market reality, which will drive higher returns, enable deleveraging, and ultimately build Barry Callebaut into an even stronger leader to the benefit of all our stakeholders,” said Feld.
FY 2024/25 outlook: Mid single-digit decrease in sales volume and double-digit increase in EBIT recurring in local currencies
- Further information is available at the following link on the Barry Callebaut website.
