London, July 30 - British confectionery giant Cadbury Plc beat forecasts with a 46 percent rise in first-half profits on Wednesday and said it was confident about the full year with sales growth seen at the top of its target.
The London-based group which makes Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident gum and Halls cough drops posted a first-half pre-tax profit of 223 million pounds ($444 million), ahead of analysts' forecasts which ranged between 196 million and 221 million and averaged 212 million.
The first-half dividend rose 6 percent to 5.3 pence.
The company which is the world's largest confectionery group until Mars completes its takeover of Wrigley later this year said its first-half underlying sales rose 7 percent and its operating margins increased 1.9 percentage points, adding it saw full year margins ahead of the consensus of market forecasts.
"We've had a strong first-half with revenue growth ahead of our goal range and margins significantly ahead of last year. We remain confident of a successful outcome for 2008 with revenue growth around the top end of our goal range and margins in line with current market consensus," said Chief Executive Todd Stitzer in a results statement.
"Despite difficult economic conditions, we are committed to deliver mid-teen margins by 2011," he added.
In mid-June Cadbury said it expected underlying revenue growth in its second-quarter to be modestly higher than the first-quarter rate of 7 percent and above its medium-term goal of 4-6 percent, and operating margins to rise at least 1.5 percentage points.
Like other consumer goods groups Cadbury, which spun off its North American beverage business Dr Pepper Snapple in May, is battling higher commodity costs while consumers tighten their belts in Europe and North America.