Cadbury non-exec takes a bite

Colin Day, a non-executive director at Cadbury, showed his faith in his new employer by spending more than £50,000 on shares in the chocolate manufacturer.

Day, who was appointed to the board in December, bought 10,000 at 508p a time, having previously just had 222.

The purchase comes the month after Cadbury boosted reported full-year profits for 2008 by 30%, although it predicted revenue growth for 2009 will be towards the bottom end of its 4-6% target.

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Underlying profit before tax for the 12 months ended 31 December 2008 jumped 30% on a reported basis to £559m, as expected, and by 22% at constant currency, as reported margins rose 180 basis points to 11.9%.

Pre-tax profit rose to £400m from £254m on reported revenue up 15% to £5.38bn.

The firm's shares are down about 10% on the year, a relatively good performance in the current climate.

Day, who is chief financial officer of the household goods giant Reckitt Benckiser and a non-executive at Imperial Tobacco and easyJet, will take up his duties as chairman of Cadbury's audit committee next month.

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