Food products Lindt & Sprüngli earns more in the first half of the year

Lindt & Sprüngli sold chocolate worth 2.16 billion Swiss francs in the first half of the year. This is slightly more than in the previous year. The Group was also slightly more profitable in the first half of the year.

In organic terms, Lindt & Sprüngli grew by 7.0 percent from January to June, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. According to the statement, all regions grew.

The company attributes this growth to mid-single-digit price increases implemented to compensate for higher cocoa prices, as well as higher sales volumes and mix effects. The so-called volume/mix growth amounted to 0.9 percent.

Operating profit (EBIT) increased by 14.6 percent to 292.3 million Swiss francs, even more strongly than sales. Accordingly, the margin as a measure of profitability rose to 13.5% from 12.2% in the first half of 2023.

The improvement was mainly due to efficiency and price increases to compensate for higher raw material costs for cocoa. A settled legal dispute in North America also had a one-off positive effect on other income.

The bottom line was a 6 percent higher net profit of CHF 218 million. With the figures presented, Lindt met analysts' expectations exactly in terms of sales and exceeded them in all other key figures.

Medium-term and annual targets confirmed

Meanwhile, the company has confirmed its targets for the current year. Lindt aims to achieve organic sales growth of 6 to 8 percent in 2024 and improve the operating profit margin by 20 to 40 basis points, i.e. to 15.8 to 16.0 percent. This is also within the company's medium to long-term target corridor. The margin is expected to be at the upper end of this range.

After Lindt prematurely completed the share buyback of almost CHF 1 billion that began in 2022 in March, the company is now launching another share buyback. Registered shares and participation certificates of the company worth up to CHF 500 million will be repurchased via a second line on the SIX Swiss Exchange from August 2, according to a statement.

SDA