Lindt & Spruengli H2 sales recover thanks to European chocolate lovers (updated)

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli AG

19/01/2021 06:28

(Adds detail, background.)
    ZURICH, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Lindt &
Spruengli  LISP.S  said on Tuesday it expected to further gain
market share this year after consumers fighting COVID
frustration with Lindor chocolate balls helped sales recover in
the second half of 2020. 
    Eating and cooking at home during the pandemic, many
consumers spent more on food and treated themselves to
affordable luxuries like Lindt Excellence chocolate bars.
    Organic sales fell 6.1% last year, the Zurich-based company
said in a statement. This was in line with company guidance for
a 5-7% decline and implied a recovery in the second half after
an 8.1% drop in the first six months of 2020.
    The company said it gained market share in nearly all
countries in which it is present and had laid the foundation for
further market share gains.
    "Lindt & Spruengli remains convinced that the positive
growth of the chocolate markets and in particular the premium
segment will continue in the future," the company said.
    Lindt's biggest region, Europe, recorded an organic sales
decline of 2.9% in the full year, an improvement over -4.9% in
the half year, helped by growth in key markets like Germany and
the UK.
    Lindt & Spruengli said it would achieve its target of an
operating profit margin of around 10% in 2020 and confirmed it
expected organic sales to grow 5-7% in the mid to long term. It
publishes full results on March 2.


 (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; editing by Brenna Hughes
Neghaiwi)
 ((silke.koltrowitz@thomsonreuters.com; +41 41 528 3638;))