Demand revival sweetens Lindt’s net profit

Swiss chocolate group Lindt and Spruengli said yesterday that net profit grew ninefold in the first half of the year as it experienced the first signs of an upswing in demand worldwide.

Net profit exceeded analysts’ expectations, reaching 24.8 million Swiss francs, an increase of 818 per cent over the same period last year when chocolate markets melted down with the economic crisis.

“Consumer sentiment improved slightly as the global economy slowly stabilised and showed the first visible signs of an upswing,” the premium chocolate maker said in a statement.

Despite moderate and patchy pick-up in the overall chocolate market, rising cocoa prices and the strength of the Swiss currency, Lindt said it had recorded double digit growth in North America, and “important progress” in Europe and Asia, as well as in the duty free travel business.

The company’s six month sales grew by 7.9 per cent to 1.06 billion Swiss francs.