Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut reported a full-year revenue miss on Wednesday, as falling cocoa prices weighed on sales. Revenue dropped 15.2% in constant currency to 12.19 billion Swiss francs, missing the 12.49 billion Swiss franc consensus. The decline reflected lower cocoa bean-linked selling prices, which impacted overall performance.
Despite the revenue shortfall, recurring operating profit fell 14.1% in constant currency to 604.5 million Swiss francs, matching expectations. Reported operating profit declined 13.5% to 541 million Swiss francs, beating forecasts of 534 million Swiss francs. Free cash flow improved significantly, swinging to a positive 2.01 billion Swiss francs from a previous outflow of 312 million Swiss francs, surpassing the 1.78 billion Swiss franc consensus.
Net debt decreased 42.5% to 2.47 billion Swiss francs from 4.30 billion Swiss francs a year earlier, outperforming the 2.63 billion Swiss franc consensus. The net debt to recurring EBITDA ratio improved to 2.9 times from 4.5 times, also better than the expected 3.1 times. Sales volumes declined 0.7% to 2.11 million tonnes, broadly in line with analyst expectations.
Chief Executive Hein Schumacher highlighted early progress, including a return to volume growth in the second half of the year, strong free cash flow generation, and significant debt reduction. For fiscal 2026/27, Barry Callebaut expects sales volume growth of 1%-3% and recurring EBIT growth of 3%-5% in constant currency, assuming a cocoa bean price of 4,000 pounds per tonne. The company also anticipates a 30% rise in recurring profit before tax and forecasts free cash flow between 200 million and 300 million Swiss francs. The board proposed an unchanged dividend of 29 Swiss francs per share.