Kraft's profits soar following Cadbury takeover
Kraft, the American food giant which bought Cadbury in January, has seen profits soar by 13 per cent. Kraft announced a net profit of £530m for the first quarter, up from £519m in the same period last year. The addition of Cadbury continued to reap the benefits for the US giant, which also said that net revenue rose 25.3 percent to $12.3bn, which equates to more than £7bn.
However, excluding the impact of the acquisition, sales in North America declined by 1.3 per cent.
Kraft’s chairman and chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, said the company was progressing “extremely well” following the integration of Cadbury.
She added: "We delivered strong earnings in the quarter and the first half of the year, despite difficult conditions in many markets that tempered top-line growth.
“We're making excellent progress on the Cadbury integration and expect to realize even greater synergies. In light of our strong earnings momentum, we will reinvest our 2010 upside to build our brands and to harmonize business practices.”
Kraft bought Cadbury in a controversial £11.5m takeover earlier this year. Kraft has been dogged by criticism since the acquisition. It received criticism from MPs in April this year regarding the nature of the takeover, and it was revealed last month that 120 senior staff had left the firm since the takeover.
Kraft’s brand portfolio includes household names such as Oreo cookies, Philadelphia cream cheese, Kenco coffee and Toblerone.