SWISS chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli posted first-half organic sales of 2.16 billion Swiss francs ($2.43 billion) on Tuesday, in line with expectations, as customers bore the brunt of historically high cocoa prices.
Price increases in the mid-single-digit percentage range contributed to the 7 percent sales growth in the first six months of the year, the maker of chocolate bunnies and teddy bears said.
Analysts polled by LSEG were expecting sales of 2.1 billion francs.
Lindt confirmed its full-year outlook for organic sales growth of between 6 percent and 8 percent and an improvement in its operating margin of 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points.
However, the maker of Lindor chocolate balls said it would need to hike prices further, as cocoa prices have more than doubled this year due to limited crop supply and are now higher than those of many metals.
The group also said it would launch a new share buyback program of up to 500 million francs from August 2, to be concluded in July 2026 at the latest.
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