Barry Callebaut slumps after higher cocoa prices hit sales

Investing.com – Barry Callebaut (SIX:) stock slumped Thursday after the Swiss chocolate maker reported disappointing quarterly sales, weighed by higher cocoa prices.

At 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT), Barry Callebaut shares fell over 9% to CHF1.452, on track for its worst day since 2015.

The world’s top industrial supplier of chocolate released data that showed that sales volumes slid 0.3% in the third quarter,, while sales revenues surged nearly 27%.

Over the first nine months of its fiscal year, sales volumes were still up 0.4% and revenues climbed 16.3%.

The company flagged the negative impact of CHF1.1 billion from higher bean prices on its free cash flow in the first half of its fiscal year, and hinted at further costs in the second half.

Cocoa bean prices were 131% higher in the nine months to May 2024 than in the previous comparable period, according to London terminal market prices.