Chocolate maker Cadbury Schweppes blamed problems with its SAP inventory system for a £12m downturn in profits.

The introduction of the system in the fourth quarter led to glut of Cadbury products. Coupled with weak sales in January - all those New Year Resolutions - the company was forced to heavily discount some chocolate bars to clear its inventory.

The new ERP system is part of a global IT project at Cadbury called Probe which is looking for £50m in annual savings.

The chocolate maker also blamed high oil prices for its problems - forecasts were made on the basis of $60 a barrel rather than $70.

Cadbury's results announcement here (http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/EN/InvestorCentre/PressReleases/PressReleaseContent.htm?ID=%7b96F0B220-0E0B-426D-A739-91F00E8E4168%7d), or on silicon here (http://www.silicon.com/cxoextra/0,3800005416,39159392,00.htm). ®

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