Lindt & Sprüngli Group posted strong growth in Europe last year as it hiked prices to offset record cocoa prices.
Group sales rose 5.1% to CHF5.5bn (£4.9bn) in 2024, as the chocolatier benefited from mid-single-digit price rises and “solid” volume growth.
Organic sales growth was 7.8% but currency knocked down the result by 2.7%, mainly due to a weaker US dollar and euro.
Lindt said it was “a challenging year characterised by record-high cocoa costs, substantial price increases, and weakened consumer sentiment.”
Cocoa prices rose by almost 180% last year, a second successive annual increase after 60% growth in 2023.
Europe continues to perform strongest with organic sales up 9.5% and double-digit growth in markets including the UK, France and Benelux.
But elsewhere, analysts raised concerns. Callum Elliott at Bernstein called it a “mixed set of numbers which we expect is likely to provide some food for both bulls and bears.”
For while organic growth is slightly ahead of consensus, he said, strength was entirely driven by the Europe region “which is perhaps less of a long-term focus for investors”.
“At the same time, both North America and the Rest of the World disappoint considerably vs expectations.”
Looking ahead to next year, Lindt expects increased organic growth of 7%-9% in 2025 and an improved operating profit margin of 20 to 40 basis points.
For subsequent years after 2025, the business reiterated its medium-to-long-term organic sales growth targets of 6%-8% with an improvement in the operating profit margin of 20 to 40 basis points per year.
The chocolatier said further price rises would be required in 2025.
No comments yet