By Nina Kienle


Shares of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli rose after the company reported an increase in sales that exceeded analysts' expectations.

At 1040 GMT on Tuesday, shares were up 5.6% at EUR109.60.

The Swiss chocolatier said its preliminary results for 2023 show an increase in sales of 4.6% compared with the prior year to 5.20 billion Swiss francs ($6.08 billion) and sales grew 10% on an organic basis.

Analysts expected Lindt's revenue to be CHF5.16 billion, with organic growth of 9.2%, according to consensus estimates provided by FactSet.

All regions contributed to the growth, the company confirmed, with double-digit growth in North America and the rest of the world region.

The company confirmed its confidence in meeting its 2023 operating margin goal of around 15.5%, as well as increasing its operating margin for 2024 by 20-40 basis points with organic sales growth of 6% to 8%.

Lindt's strong 2023 figures and confident 2024 outlook should give the market confidence in the company's ambition to continue on a growth path despite headwinds, Stifel analyst Pascal Boll said in a research note.

Full-year results for 2023 are expected to be reported on March 5, the company said.


Write to Nina Kienle at nina.kienle@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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