Interim report 1 September 2009 - 31 May 2010: Continued growth in sales and higher operating profit

“It was a good third quarter in terms of sales thanks to several major new product launches,” says Cloetta’s Managing Director and CEO Curt Petri.
”During the quarter we launched six chocolate product in The Official Wedding Series to commemorate the royal wedding,” explains Curt Petri. As part of Cloetta’s summer campaign we have also taken part in the Love Stockholm festival, where the focus was on limited editions of Kexchoklad Snacks Hallon, Polly Summer Berries and Plopp,” says Curt Petri.
Sales of Cloetta’s products for the nine-month period were up by 9%. Total sales amounted to SEK 848 million (972). The figure for the previous year includes Fazer's products in an amount of SEK 217 million.

Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability for the nine-month period increased to SEK 41 million (27). Operating margin was 4.8% (2.8) and earnings per share amounted to SEK 1.14 (1.03).
”As in earlier quarters, high efficiency in production has contributed to the improvement in earnings. However, the steadily rising price of cocoa is having a negative impact on our costs,” concludes Curt Petri.

The information in this press release is subject to the disclosure requirements of Cloetta AB (publ) pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication on 22 June 2010, 13.30 CET.