Cadbury blames IT for £12m profit dent

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, or on silicon here. ®