Cadbury sweetens profit

July 25, 2001 Posted: 1021 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Cadbury Schweppes said on Wednesday first-half profit rose 7 percent from acquisitions and strong U.S. sales.

The British sweets and soft drinks company posted a net profit of £201 million ($296 million), or 9.9 pence a share. That compares with a profit of £188 million, or 9.3 pence a share, in the year earlier period.

Cadbury Schweppes, which last year bought Snapple Beverages of the U.S. for $1.45 billion and is buying Pernod Ricard's soft drinks unit for $595 million, said it is on course to deliver double-digit earnings growth this year.

Underlying pretax profit rose 14 percent to £351 million in the six months ended June 17 on a 26 percent increase in sales to £2.5 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast an underlying pretax profit of between £320 million and £345 million.

"With a good performance in the first half, we remain on track to achieve our full-year financial targets," Chief Executive John Sunderland said.

Cadbury, the maker of Dr Pepper soft drinks and Cadbury Crème Eggs, said: "Despite a slower U.S. carbonated soft drinks market, overall beverages volumes, before acquisitions, grew by 2 percent during the year.

The world third-largest soft-drinks maker and the fourth-largest confectionery company added sales in the North American Beverages market rose 54 percent to more than £1 billion and trading profit rose 49 percent to £299 million.

Dr Pepper/Seven Up, it leading brands, benefited from a combination of price increases and lower costs. Seven Up came under attack from rival drinks in the lemon and lime sector.

Cadbury, which closed a deal to buy Spanish soft drinks manufacturer La Casera, doubling its presence in the Spanish market, said trading profit in European beverages rose 17 percent to £34 million.

Trading profit in its European confectionery business rose 9 percent to 85 million as sales rose 12 percent to £680 million.

Shares in Cadbury (CRBY) rose 2.1 percent to 475 pence in early London trading.

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