(Bloomberg) -- Barry Callebaut AG, which supplies some of the biggest consumer chocolate brands, jumped the most in eight years on signs it’s weathering a cocoa crisis that has rattled the market.

Cocoa futures have been on a tear this year as poor crops in West Africa put the world on course for a third straight annual supply deficit. Barry Callebaut has managed that price increase — as well as inflation more generally — through its so-called cost-plus pricing model for most of its business.

On Wednesday, the Swiss company reported revenue that beat analyst estimates in the first half as volumes rose, even amid a challenging environment of mounting costs. It maintained guidance for flat volumes this fiscal year and said it’s “well covered and well positioned” in securing supplies. 

The shares rose as much as 10% in Zurich, the most since 2016, before paring some of the gain.

The results are “reassuring, given the unprecedented market disruption due to the cocoa bean price spike, as well as the heavy ongoing restructuring” and highlight positive volume growth as a healthy sign for the company’s product offering, Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said.

Higher raw-material costs can take months to trickle through to candy prices, so the effects of bean shortages may continue to emerge over the year. Barry Callebaut’s client contracts generally allow the firm to pass on higher costs for most of its products — plus an agreed margin.

The company is still profiting from selling beans and chocolate from its stockpiles, but reported negative free cash flow of 1.12 billion francs due to price effects on working capital.

Barry Callebaut said earlier this year it secured additional financing, including a 600 million-franc bond, which helped mitigate higher cash requirements in bean sourcing.

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The company announced a transformation strategy a year ago that included savings across the business. Yet the plan also entails costs for implementation, and those expenses underpinned a decline of more than 40% in earnings before interest and taxes, it said Wednesday.

While the shares have sunk by about a third in the past 12 months, investor Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. recently increased its stake, saying the firm is “well-capitalized” and may later benefit from a higher market share.

Sales rose 11% from a year earlier to 4.6 billion Swiss francs ($5.1 billion), topping the average estimate of 4.4 billion francs.

--With assistance from James Cone.

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