Q1 2025 Barry Callebaut AG Corporate Sales Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Alex Sloane - Barclays plc - Analyst : Yeah. Hi, morning, all. Thanks for taking the questions. I've got two please. The first one just on the guidance. Could you give some context on what market volume you're assuming in your updated guidance of low single digit decline in volumes for Barry. And on the unchanged EBIT guide, is there any fading we should be aware of the H1 versus H2? And I guess the lack of any change on the EBIT guide, is that reflecting the fact that you had some buffer in the initial guide or is this higher tailwind from finance cost pass through? So that's the first one on guidance. Second one, on liquidity and on leverage. Have you have you got sufficient liquidity in terms of cash flow post, the recent issue in if bean prices stay where they are today, and could you give us an update on where you see free cash flow for the year if bean prices stay where they are. Thanks.

Question: Jon Cox - Kepler Cheuvreux SA - Analyst : Yeah. Good morning, guys. Thanks for this session. Just to come back to the free cash flow, you seem to maybe have dumped the question a little bit. If cocoa prices remain where they are, where do you see your free cash flow for the year? Maybe a different way to ask it is, is it as simple as looking at where the cocoa price for the spot market was at the end of August? And then looking at where it is today. And then assuming every [100 pounds] move in the cocoa price is adding, [EUR70 million, EUR80 million] to your negative working capital. That's the first question. And just added to that on the sort of margin requirements and all of that type of stuff and the financing line this year. Is that financing line this year likely to be closer to CHF300 million versus the CHF210 million-odd we saw last year. Thank you.

Question: Jon Cox - Kepler Cheuvreux SA - Analyst : Okay. I'm just -- well, just to add, if the cocoa prices stay where they are, do you have sufficient financing now that everything you've done, or do you need to come back and maybe issue more bonds or go back to the banks? That's the first question. Second one, actually, just more on operations. You seem to allude to more savings coming through than you've announced of the CHF250 million and three quarters goes to the bottom line. You seem to be saying you're looking for more. Can you give us some indication that as well?

Question: Jon Cox - Kepler Cheuvreux SA - Analyst : Okay. Sorry, I'm just going to just quickly jump in for another bite at the cherry. Just in terms of more current trading. We obviously saw what happened in your Q1 which was to the end of November. We're a good, almost two months into your second quarter. Has there been any discernible changes in the volume trends at all? Has that improved or is it still a similar sort of weakness we're seeing?

Question: Jon Cox - Kepler Cheuvreux SA - Analyst : Okay. So basically, volume trends are the same in the last couple of months, this minus 2.7%.

Question: Jon Cox - Kepler Cheuvreux SA - Analyst : Okay. Thank you.

Question: Antoine PrTvot - BofA Securities, Inc - Analyst : Yeah. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. So two on my side regarding the volume outlook. Obviously, a bit weaker on the back of the weaker chocolate. But maybe could you quantify the volume impact from the delayed orders and the SKU rationalization within your guidance. And also, for the EBIT, you keep it unchanged, but the mix is now a bit worse with weaker chocolate and stronger cocoa. Could you maybe quantify the impact from that worsening mix on your EBIT guidance? Thank you.

Question: Antoine PrTvot - BofA Securities, Inc - Analyst : Thank you. And let me just reflect on that. On the gourmet, your expectations for the coming quarters. I mean, Q3, we have very tough comps. I mean, [would you show me] your expectations for the remainder of the year, on Gourmet? Volume, sorry.

Question: Antoine PrTvot - BofA Securities, Inc - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Joern Iffert - UBS Group AG - Analyst : Thanks and good morning. Two questions please, if I may. And the first one would be on the harvest. Interesting to see that you expect a [mild surplus] bean price had been exploding. I think they've never seen such a kind of correlation in the last 15 to 20 years, if I remember correctly. But what do you think it's really the market expectations when you talk to your customer et cetera, when you take all things together, what the bean price is doing over the next three to six months? Because when there's really a surplus and the amount is coming down, it should become more balanced. But you also said that you expect an ongoing volatile environment. So maybe if you share some more thoughts, what is behind this would be great.

Question: Joern Iffert - UBS Group AG - Analyst : Thanks. And then the second question if I may please on outsourcing. Given that many customers are suffering from declining volumes, do you see a current insourcing trend which could also impact your volume guidance to some extent versus your initial expectation in November? So yeah, some kind of outsourcing would be appreciated also.

Question: Joern Iffert - UBS Group AG - Analyst : Thank you.