Against a challenging market backdrop, Lindt & Sprüngli Group has posted half-year sales gains, with revenues up 4.3% to CHF 2.33 billion, as it highlighted continuing sector volatility, reports Neill Barston.

However, the business acknowledged its results were in fact down 0.9% when measured in Swiss Francs, as the business contended with a dampening of demand amid consumer caution with economies across its core European markets experiencing notable turbulence.

Net income for the company’s first six months of the year stood at CHF 191.7 million, up 1.5% from the 188 million attained in the prior period last year, underlining the comparative challenges presented by conditions.

As the company asserted, its performance was affected by ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and continued market volatility, which weighed on consumer sentiment and tourism flows, particularly in Europe.

Despite this, there were brighter spots for the company, especially in North America and Rest of the World, which grew double-digit.

Consequently, the company stated that it had introduced targeted actions  to support volume recovery in the second half of 2026, meaning its full-year guidance remained unchanged, with its medium and long-term ambitions remaining positive. 

However, as Confectionery Production has reported recently, the industry is facing another potential major headache on the horizon, with forecasts of significantly adverse El Nino weather conditions projected for later this year, which threaten to further impact cocoa supply chains already hit with continued price fluctuations, as well as extensive issues of crop disease affecting core  production nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Adalbert Lechner, Group CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli, moved to offer reassurance regarding its latest results, which come amid some of the most turbulent periods of trading for the broader industry.

He commented: “In a volatile market environment, we delivered results in line with expectations. The actions we have initiated focus on volume recovery in the second half of 2026 and lay the foundation to regain volume growth momentum in 2027.”