Cadbury has named Andrew Bonfield as its new chief financial officer.

Bonfield, who joins the confectionery giant on 1 February, was previously finance chief at pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb and has also held senior roles at BG Group and the pre-merger SmithKline Beecham.   

He takes over from the outgoing Ken Hanna, whose departure for car retailer Inchcape was announced in October.

“I am delighted we have been able to attract someone of Andrew's calibre and experience to to Cadbury,” said chief executive Todd Stitzer. “He has established a strong track record as an international and FTSE100 CFO. He will have a key role to play in sustaining our focus on performance delivery as we unlock the full potential of our total confectionery model.”

Bonfield said: “I am very pleased to be joining Cadbury at an exciting time in the company's development. It has an outstanding portfolio of chocolate, gum and candy brands, a broad developed and emerging market footprint and a clear strategy to create shareholder value.”

Meanwhile, the company is set to sell off its Australian beverages division, having earlier this year hived off its US soft drinks business.

Cadbury also said it expects to post robust growth for the year in its latest trading statement.

“The group has continued to perform in line with expectations [and] we expect to deliver strong profit growth for the year as a whole,” said Stitzer. “Looking forward, despite forecasting a 6-8% rise in input costs for 2009 and weakening economic conditions, we remain committed to delivering mid-teen margins by 2011 and making further progress towards that goal in 2009.”

The company will announce its end-of-year results on 25 February.