Lindt & Spruengli AG posted first-half operating profit that beat analysts’ expectations and raised its full-year revenue forecast, buoyed by rising prices for its pralines and chocolate easter bunnies.
The Swiss chocolate maker’s first-half operating profit jumped to 255 million Swiss francs ($293 million), topping the 201 million francs analysts had expected. Lindt revised its 2023 forecast to project expansion of 7% to 9%. It expects full-year profit margin to widen by up to 50 basis points.
Chief Executive Officer Adalbert Lechner, who took over nine months ago, is squeezing more sales and profit out of Lindt’s roughly 500 retail outlets around the world, as tourism rebounds and consumers continue to splurge on increasingly pricey chocolate.
Sales rose 10% to 2.1 billion Swiss francs in the first half, according to a statement on Tuesday. Lindt’s net income jumped 48% from the year-earlier period to 204.5 million francs.
--With assistance from Allegra Catelli.
