The proof lies in price increases - 19% on average - that went through without a hitch, offsetting cocoa prices that stayed pinned near their historical highs during H1 2025, before plunging sharply throughout H2.
They are allowing Lindt to post organic growth of 12.4% this year, or 8.2% at constant exchange rates, its best performance in ten years. With the group also reporting a slight margin expansion, operating profit should comfortably beat analysts' forecasts, and hover around CHF 970m for 2025.
It is therefore a clean sweep for the group, which, like the champagne house Laurent Perrier shows that mass distribution can be combined with premium positioning, delivering greater resilience in this segment than more exclusive distribution products, without sacrificing margins.
At the same time, the group is developing its own network of boutiques, which are enjoying strong success everywhere. It also announced this morning that its direct sales hit a record as well, with growth in this segment of 20.8%.
Lindt's great strength is delivering sales and cash-flow growth without having to increase its capital intensity. The latter has remained remarkably stable over the past decade, notwithstanding the group's expansion strategy and the substantial inflation endured over the period.
Valued at twenty-eight times its expected operating profit next year, Lindt is currently trading exactly in line with its historical average. A quintessential defensive investment, and long a MarketScreener favorite, the stock has never traded at less than twenty-three times operating profit over the past decade - even in spring 2020, during the peak of Covid-related panic.
