All eyes will be on Cadbury plc (NYSE:CBY) when it releases its third-quarter 2009 earnings on Wednesday amid a possible formal bid by Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT).
The earnings report will likely influence how Kraft will bid if it does prior to its Nov. 9 deadline to submit a formal bid.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) suggested that Cadbury's sales would be lower than
the company's target
of 4 to 6 pence in revenue growth. However, in the past Cadbury has surprised, and Cadbury is likely to have gained sales from the recent publicity due to the informal bid made by Kraft. Most analysts anticipate that Cadbury will be able to sweeten its earnings again.
Analysts forecast that for the full year show Cadbury's turnover is likely to be about £5.9 billion ($9.6 billion), up from £5.4 billion in 2008, according to
This is Money.
Some important items to note will be organic growth, which is expected to increase 5.9% in third-quarter 2009, increasing the 2009 earnings-per-share estimate by 2.5%, to 58 cents, according to
Barrons.
The company is also expected to announce more restructuring targets that include layoffs at its
factories, according to
Bloomberg. - Maria Woehr
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