Mondelez’s share price has taken another hit after it warned earnings will likely fall this year due to “unprecedented cocoa cost inflation”.
The Cadbury owner expects adjusted earnings per share to decline by about 10% in 2025.
The stock fell 5% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, bringing its total fall to almost 30% for the past year.
Record-high cocoa prices have forced Mondelez to hike prices, but this in turn seems to have pushed shoppers away to cheaper alternatives.
While Mondelez’s revenues were up 1.2% to $36.4bn in 2024, volumes fell 1% as budget-conscious shoppers went elsewhere.
Europe – the company’s biggest market – saw revenue jump 3.5% in the year while volumes declined by 2.1% after prices rose.
More price rises have landed in January where, for example, in the UK Cadbury’s chocolate fingers went up from £1.25 to £1.90 and a six-pack of Oreos rose from 60p to 80p in Tesco.
By contrast in North America, Mondelez cut prices in the fourth quarter, leading to volumes rising 1.3%.
CEO Dirk Van de Put told investors more price rises may be necessary in the second half of this year and into 2026. While it expects cocoa prices to fall from current levels, they will likely remain higher than historic levels.
Mondelez’s gross profit margin rose slightly to 37.8% due primarily to higher pricing and productivity gains in manufacturing. This was partially offset by higher raw material and transportation costs.
For the three months to 31 December, Mondelez reported net revenue of $9.60bn compared to expectations of $9.64bn.
In December, its bid to buy rival chocolate maker Hershey’s was rejected for being too low.
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