Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli AG N

Lindt & Sprüngli cut its full-year organic sales growth forecast to 0%-2% from 4%-6%, citing weaker demand in Germany, Switzerland and Austria after price increases and an unusually hot summer. The Swiss chocolate maker said higher consumer price sensitivity led to lower-than-expected orders, particularly in seasonal products, in those three markets. Lindt maintained its 2026 target for a 20-40 basis point improvement in its EBIT margin from the previous year. Group CEO Adalbert Lechner said necessary price increases due to historically high cocoa prices in recent years, and subdued consumer sentiment, led to weaker-than-expected order volumes in certain European markets, particularly in seasonal businesses. Performance was stronger in North America and Asia, providing some offset to weakness in its core European markets, and the company expects positive volume growth in 2027 supported by changes to its pricing strategy, higher brand investment, new products and cost savings. Lindt reiterated its medium- to long-term target of 6%-8% organic sales growth and annual EBIT margin expansion of 20-40 basis points from 2028 onwards, and reported sales of 5.92 billion Swiss francs in 2025.