BTEC Level 3 Business Communication: Cadbury Financial Report

This report analyzes Cadbury's financial performance, focusing on commodity expenses, sales data, and business communication strategies. The analysis covers aspects such as rising commodity costs, currency movements, and revenue growth, as well as the impact of these factors on Cadbury's stock performance and overall financial health. The report also explores the company's communication strategies, including how Cadbury addressed concerns about sales volume drops and the impact of product changes. The document provides a detailed overview of Cadbury's financial updates, the challenges it faces, and the measures it takes to maintain its market position. It provides a detailed overview of the company's financial data and sales performance, as well as the business communication strategies used to address market challenges. This is a useful resource for students studying business and finance, particularly those working on BTEC assignments related to business communication and financial analysis. It offers insights into Cadbury's approach to managing costs, driving revenue, and communicating with stakeholders.

CADBURY
Finanacial information and sales data of organisation
Todd Stitzer was on feisty form on Wednesday. Waving
bars of Wispa and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate in the
air, the Cadbury chief executive took pains to stress that
the former weighed 10g less than the latter. The
difference between a chocolate bar weighing 39g and one
weighing 49g was of great concern to Mr Stitzer as he
attempted to assuage concerns over a 3 per cent drop in
Cadbury’s sales volumes in the third quarter. Although
Cadbury’s quarterly revenue growth and full-year
financial forecasts were better than expected, analysts
questioned aspects of the company’s financial update,
with some suggesting that a strong quarter did not
necessarily indicate strong trading in 2010. Kraft is
expected to seize upon weaknesses in the update as it
considers raising its offer for Cadbury. The group
reported 7 per cent revenue growth, mostly derived from
raising prices and changing the mix of products, such as
selling higher margin sugar-free gum. Analysts
expressed concerns about the drop, which extended the
1-2 per cent slide in the first half.
Cadbury expects commodity expenses to rise
between 5% and 6% over the year and be ''weighted
toward'' the second half. Hanna said the company
expects oil prices of between $US130 and $US135 a
barrel in the latter part of the year, compared with an
average of about $US100 in the first half, which will
push up packaging, energy and transport costs.
Cadbury rose 3 pence, or 0.5%, to 628 pence in
London trading. The stock has declined 8.5% in
2008 and 21% from its record peak in May 2007,
when investors expected a sale of the US beverage
unit to a private-equity firm.
''The group has been passing on higher commodity
costs through strong price increases,'' Ian Kellett, an
analyst at Numis Securities with an ''add'' rating on
the shares, said in a research report. ''We see no
reason for trading to soften.''
Cadbury, which spun off its US soft-drink unit in
May, will report 80 million pounds of restructuring
charges in the first half, and expects to report a
similar amount in the second half. Currency
movements will boost sales and operating profit by
about 7% in the first half.