Seasonal spending doubles Lindt profits

By Catherine Boal

- Last updated on GMT

A cool spring and late Easter has contributed to booming business
at Swiss chocolate maker Lindt, who announced it has more than
doubled its profits in the first half.

Operating profit for the company who produce a range of dark chocolates, pralines and seasonal gifts increased to €9.8m in comparison to the €3.6m recorded last year and sales rose 17.2 per cent to €622.65m.

Lindt shrugged off high energy prices and the rising costs of raw materials to see an increase in popularity across the full range of premium products, with seasonal gifts in particular boosting sales.

In its report Lindt said the price of high-quality cocoa had increased but a slight fall in cocoa butter and stable bulk cocoa prices had offset most of the resulting cost.

In addition, milk and sugar prices remained unchanged and a good harvest could point to a drop in the cost of almonds and hazelnuts.

In a statement the company said: "Despite further increases in the cost of energy and rising interest rates, most chocolate markets are seeing their overall value develop slightly over the equivalent period last year even though volumes continue to stagnate or may even be continuing to decline.

"In this slow-growing environment, two different trends are becoming increasingly important: one the one hand, there is continuing growth in the premium quality segment with an increasing preference for dark chocolate with a high cocoa content and, on the other hand, an overall positive development of the low-priced private labels."

Sales at Lindt were bolstered by its range of seasonal gift products - such as the signature Gold Bunny sold at Easter - and popularity in the world's three biggest chocolate markets of Germany, the US and the UK.

Growth in these segments was attributed to expansion of distribution and rapid product rotation.

Lindt, sells products under the brand names Lindt, Ghirardelli, Caffarel, Hofbauer and Küfferle.

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