Cadbury Schweppes has disappointed shareholders by refusing to return capital from the demerger of its US drinks business.

Analysts were furious that Cadbury's has reneged on its promise to give investors some cash from the deal.

'While we always thought the maths of a cash return to shareholders was marginal at best, and had assumed just a 20 pence payout, the fact that Cadbury is going back on its previous statement is not very impressive,' said Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones.

Shares in the company fell 4% to 586.5p on the news which overshadowed positive financial results. Cadbury's full-year earnings were better than expected with pre-tax profit rising 10% to £670 million.

Current deputy Roger Carr will take over from John Sunderland as chairman in mid 2008. The move should see Carr give up his current chairman's role at pubs operator Mitchells & Butler. He is already under pressure to step down from unhappy shareholders after M&B lost £274 million closing hedges related to a failed property transaction.

Cadbury's has seen strong sales growth in chewing gum and chocolate. It is forecasting future revenue growth at the upper end of its 4-6% target range.