Mondelez International share price drops as currency issues eat into snacks group’s sales
Mondelez International, the parent company of several snack brands including Cadbury, Belvita and Milka, posted a 16.6 per cent dip in sales during the fourth quarter of 2015, down to $7.36bn (£5.04bn). This represents the ninth consecutive quarter of decreased revenue for the group.
Europe put in a particularly bad performance, with sales down 31.8 per cent during the quarter, and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa was not far behind with a 29.2 per cent drop.
Full year revenue for 2015 was also down, at $29.6bn, a 13.5 per cent reduction compared with the previous year.
Quarterly profit was down 9.9 per cent to $2.8bn, while yearly profit was down 8.6 per cent to $11.5bn.
Shares in the company fell by as much as 7.98 per cent during trading in New York today.
Mondelez boss Irene Rosenfeld said the firm had delivered "very strong results despite the highly volatile macroeconomic environment".
She added: "We remain confident in our ability to execute our transformation agenda despite weakening macroeconomic conditions in emerging markets. As a result, in 2016, we expect to deliver another year of strong margin expansion and double-digit EPS growth on a constant currency basis by continuing to reduce supply chain and overhead costs."
Mondelez has recently come under fire over arrangements the company has in place which enable it to pay no corporation tax in the UK.