Jan 30 (Reuters) - Mondelez International posted a rise in fourth-quarter sales on Tuesday, but price hikes took a toll on volumes as it squeezed demand for the Cadbury parent's chocolates and salty crackers and sent its shares down more than 3% after the bell.

While price hikes have helped the Toblerone parent improve its profit margin through fiscal 2023, it is now starting to see softer demand as cash-strapped consumers cut back spending.

The company reported organic net revenue growth of 9.8%, but volumes declined 0.4% in the quarter, joining other consumer staples firms such as McCormick in facing the brunt of significant price increases.

Gross profit margin of 37.3% exceeded market expectation of 36.7% for the fourth quarter, but was lower than 38.7% it logged in the prior quarter.

Net revenue rose 7.1% to about $9.31 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with $8.70 billion a year ago, meeting analysts' average estimate, according to LSEG data.

Mondelez said from the fourth quarter its results will begin to take a hit from the sale of shares of beverage company JDE Peet, as well as its divestiture of developed market gum business. (Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Arun Koyyur)