Irish arm of Cadbury owner makes sweet profit of €4.2m
Gordon Deegan
The spiralling price of cocoa beans last year did little to dent profits at Cadbury owner, Mondelez as operating profits at its Irish unit increased by 56 per cent to €4.2 million.
New accounts filed by Mondelez Ireland Ltd show that the company’s operating profits surged as revenues rose by 12 per cent from €282.34 million to €317.13 million.
In April of last year, globally the price of cocoa prices peaked and briefly exceeded a record of $12,000 per tonne and by late 2024, prices were around $8,177 per tonne, which was still more than a three fold increase on the 2022 price of $2,300 per tonne.
The Irish unit of Mondelez sells and distributes the likes of Dairy Milk Bars and other confectionery and grocery products in Ireland.
Along with the Cadbury chocolate range, Mondelez’s other brands here include Sour Patch Kids, Toblerone, TUC, Marabou, Mikado and Chips Ahoy.
The directors state that “Market conditions continue to be challenging in al the categories in which we operate: confectionery, cheese, bakery and grocery”.
They state that “inflationary pressures continue to have an impact on both the business and consumers”.
They state that “despite this, the business has continued to drive performance by launching new product innovation, building
brand awareness through media campaigns, increasingly using new social media platforms and working with customers in building the categories we work in”.
They state that as a result of these activities and market pricing, turnover increased to €317m.
They state: “We gained market share in all confectionary categories and maintained our share in the biscuits category.
They state “Mondelez in 2024 maintains the number one position in the market for confectionery”.
In an upbeat assessment, the directors state that they “anticipate that the company's operations will continue to expand its presence in the lrish market with its product portfolio and generate revenue from the exploitation of these products and related service needs”
They further state that the Mondelez group “have strong plans so that we can continue to serve our customers and consumers moving forward”.
No dividend was paid last year after the firm in 2023 paid a dividend of €60m to parent firm, Kraft Foods Schweiz Holding Gmbh.
The Irish unit recorded operating profits of €4.22 million and net interest receivable of €2.1 million resulted in pre-tax profits of €6.36m which were marginally ahead of pre-tax profits of €6.17 million in 2023.
The firm recorded post tax profits of €5.09 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €1.27 million.
Numbers employed in selling and administration increased by one to 79 and staff costs increased from €8.67 million to €9.15 million. The profits also take account of non-cash amortisation costs of €1.4 million.
Shareholder funds at the end of December last totalled €23.6 million that included accumulated profits of €13.6 million.
On the company’s R&D spend, the directors state that Mondelez Europe GmbH’s R&D resources are centralised in Munich, Germany, and Bournville, England.
They state that new product ideas are communicated to all operating units for their evaluation and introduction where appropriate.
In 2024, global revenues at Mondelez increased marginally to $36bn as pre-tax profits rose to $6.2 billion.
