Yowie tips lower sales

AUSTRALIAN confectionary maker Yowie has brought shareholders back to “reality” by slashing its full-year sales forecast and replacing its chief executive.

The chocolate maker yesterday said it expected sales to grow 17 per cent in the year to June, rather than the previously forecast 55 per cent.

Downgrading its projection, it cited an 11.7 per cent fall in first-half sales in North America — its core market.

It also announced chief executive Bert Alfonso had stepped down and would be replaced by chief operating officer Mark Schuessler, who led the North American business.

The update sent shares in the group to a near five-year low. They fell 36 per cent to 13.5¢ in the first half-hour of trade.

They recovered only some of that ground, closing 33.33 per cent lower at 14¢.