Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific upbeat after strong results

Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific reported good financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2006.

The Asia Pacific region delivered revenue growth of seven percent, contributing 16 percent to the total Group revenue for the year.

In Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the division performed well with strong top-line growth and share gains in each market. In Thailand, its share of gum rose by 300 bps to 61.6 percent driven by Trident sugar-free.

The rise in profits in India was “exceptional”, with revenues ahead by more than 20 percent, due to the following inititatives:

• gifting innovations for key festivals such as Diwali and Rakhi;

• introductions such as 5 Star Crunchy, Fruity Gems and Cadbury Dairy Milk Wowie,

which drove market share to a eleven-year high of 72 percent;

• extensions of the successful Cadbury Eclairs brand with the launch of Cadbury

Dairy Milk Eclairs Crunch;

• relaunch of Bournvita with new packaging and graphics.

“We are delivering on our objectives to grow our positions in the developed markets of

Australia, New Zealand and Japan, as well as fulfilling our ambition to accelerate the

growth of our emerging market businesses,” states Rajiv Wahi, president, Asia Pacific.

“The performance in India has been truly outstanding in 2006 and this market is a real hotbed of innovation.”

The Cadbury Schweppes group recently scooped two awards at Wal-Mart's Year Ending Meeting, maintaining its position as one of the retail giants top global suppliers.

The company recently earned 'Supplier of the Year' and 'Most Improved International Supplier of the Year' awards from Wal-Mart.