July 10 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut (BARN.S) , opens new tab cut its volume guidance for the third time this year on Thursday due to what it described as unprecedented market conditions in the cocoa bean market, as it reported nine-month results in line with market expectations.

The world's biggest chocolatier, which supplies key food producers such as KitKat maker Nestle (NESN.S) , opens new tab, expects its sales volume to fall by 7% in the year ending on August 31.

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It had previously said it expected the cocoa sales volume to fall by a mid-single-digit percentage due to volatility in cocoa bean prices that trade in London at around 5,455 pounds per metric ton .

Its shares were down 2.8% at 0618 GMT in premarket, with analysts flagging concerns that the management's low visibility and another profit warning could hurt the investment case and fail to reassure investors on the difficult environment.

The low visibility "could also raise question about the company's management information system", analyst Matteo Lindauer from Vontobel said.

Despite London cocoa futures falling to an eight-month low on Monday on expectations of a rise in production in South America, industry sources told Reuters that the key West African cocoa producing region was likely to see a 10% decline in the upcoming 2025/26 season.

Barry Callebaut also lowered its operating earnings target, saying they would rise by a mid to high single-digit percentage in constant currency this year. In April, it had guided for a double-digit rise.

Its sales volume was 1.6 million tonnes in the nine months to the end of May, meeting analysts' average forecast in a company-provided poll, even as they fell 9.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of the financial year.

Despite this, revenue increased by a half during the nine-month period, as the chocolatier passed on raw material costs to its customers.

(This story has been corrected to say the company has cut its guidance three, not two, times this year, in paragraph 1)

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/barry-callebaut-lowers-volume-guidance-raw-material-prices-2025-07-10/