(Reuters) -Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli raised its organic sales growth forecast for 2025 on Tuesday, citing consumer loyalty and a trend towards more premium products.
The maker of Lindor chocolate balls expects organic sales growth of between 9% and 11% this year, after previously guiding for growth of 7% to 9%.
"We have shown resilience in a challenging market environment," CEO Adalbert Lechner said in a statement.
Lindt posted sales of 2.35 billion Swiss francs ($2.95 billion) for the
January-June period, compared with a mean estimate of 2.30 billion francs from analysts polled by LSEG. That corresponded to organic growth of 11.2%.
"This strong result was positively influenced by necessary price increases of 15.8%," the company said in a statement. Lindt has been repeatedly raising its selling prices to offset the high costs of cocoa.
The dynamic performance of core products such as Lindor and Lindt Excellence and product innovation including the Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate also drove growth, it added.
Europe showed very strong organic sales growth of 17.7%, while North America grew 3.6% amid a weak consumer sentiment, it said.
Lindt also faced foreign currency headwinds, as the Swiss franc strengthened against currencies in its key markets. When converted to Swiss francs, its half-year sales rose 9%.
The value of the Swiss currency, seen as a safe haven amid economic turmoil, has grown nearly 14% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year.
($1 = 0.7975 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Simon Ferdinand Eibach in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
