Lindt's price hikes drive yearly sales beat

Lindt's Sales Performance Overview

By Paolo Laudani and Bernadette Hogg

Impact of Price Increases

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said on Tuesday its sales grew 12.4% organically in 2025, slightly beating market expectations, as it raised selling prices by 19% to pass higher cocoa costs on to customers.

Future Sales Projections

The chocolate-bunny maker reported annual sales of 5.92 billion Swiss francs ($7.43 billion), compared with 5.90 billion francs seen in an LSEG poll of analysts.

Market Reaction

Sales volumes declined around 6% over the year, calculations from Zuercher Kantonalbank showed, as the unprecedented price increases made some shoppers cut back on premium sweets.

"For 2026, there remain risks that volumes will be negative or that price development will not be in the mid-single-digit percentage range," Zuercher analysts said, although they noted Lindt had already implemented most of the price hikes.

Lindt, which will report full annual results on March 10, guided for an operating profit (EBIT) margin increase at the lower end of its 20-40 basis point range for the year.

The company's registered shares, which carry voting rights, opened almost 2% higher on Tuesday, but flattened by 0837 GMT.

($1 = 0.7971 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Bernadette Hogg in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)