Oct 29 (Reuters) – Mondelez International beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by cost-cutting measures at the Cadbury parent, sending its shares up 4% in extended trading.
A global cocoa surplus drove costs down, easing margin pressures at the chocolate maker and giving it more flexibility to attract shoppers with promotions and value packs.
The company, which pushed through multiple rounds of price increases when cocoa prices rallied over the past few years, has since lowered prices on some chocolate products in Europe and is beginning to see sales volumes recover as consumers return to the category.
The company posted an adjusted profit of 78 cents per share for the quarter ended September 30, above analysts’ average estimate of 71 cents per share.
The Oreo maker’s quarterly net revenue came in at $9.97 billion, slightly below analysts’ average estimate of $9.98 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
