Price hikes hit volumes at Lindt, shares fall
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Tuesday 22 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Shares in Lindt & Sprungli soured on Tuesday, despite the Swiss chocolatier increasing its full-year sales forecast, after steep price hikes hit volumes in the first half.
Organic sales at the 180 year-old group rose by an 11.2% in the first six months of the year to CHF2.35bn (£2.18bn), driven largely by healthy demand in Europe - where revenues surged 17.7% - and new products such as Dubai-style bars.
Analysts had been expecting interim sales closer to CHF2.30bn.
The company therefore raised sales growth guidance for the full year to between 9% and 11%, up from its previous forecast for 7% to 9%.
Lindt acknowledged, however, that the growth had also been supported by "necessary" price increases of 15.8%, after cocoa costs hit record highs.
While off their 2024 peak, cocoa prices remain sharply elevated, as climate change and poor crop yields at aging West African farms weigh heavily.
Lindt said low price elasticity had led to a volume/mix decline of -4.6%, while earnings before interest and tax were weaker-than-expected, down 11.3% a CHF259.2m
In addition, North America's organic sales growth of 3.6% was below expectations. US consumers are becoming increasing cautious in light of Donald Trump's swingeing tariff regime and the prospect of higher prices.
As at 1130 BST, the Zurich-listed stock had lost 8%.
Adalbert Lechner, chief executive, said: "I am proud of what our teams achieved in the first half. We have shown resilience in a challenging market environment."
Lindt, which has 12 factories in Europe and the US, employs around 15,000 people.
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