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BRIEF-Lower Cocoa Prices Will Help Profit Margins In 2018 -CFO Mondelez

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Mondelez:

* CEO- IN NORTH AMERICA, THE JUNE MALWARE INCIDENT HAD A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE EFFECT ON OUR RESULTS FOR THE YEAR (CONF CALL)

* CFO- NORTH AMERICA SALES FELL 2.4 PERCENT DUE TO CHALLENGES IN BISCUITS BUSINESS RESULTING FROM MALWARE-RELATED LOSSES, TOUGH OPERATING ENVIRONMENT AND MIXED EXECUTION

* CFO- GUM & CANDY DECLINED MID-SINGLE DIGITS AS THE GUM CATEGORY CONTINUED TO FACE HEADWINDS

* CFO- COCO HAS BEEN DOWN OVER THE LAST 6- 9 MONTHS PRICES, BUT WE HAVEN’T NECESSARILY SEEN THAT HELP GIVEN THE HEDGING & INVENTORY POSITIONS IN COCOA

* CFO- DAIRY HAS BEEN A BIG HEADWIND FOR US THIS YEAR. COCOA AND DAIRY WERE NEGATIVE & HURT US IN 2017. DAIRY IS EVEN BIGGER BUY FOR US NOW THAN COCOA

* CFO- LOWER COCOA PRICES WILL HELP PROFIT MARGINS IN 2018, OFFSET BY HIGHER DAIRY, PACKAGING, TRANSPORTATION COSTS Further company coverage:

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