Chocolate price hikes sweeten Lindt's operating profit
(Reuters) -Switzerland's Lindt & Spruengli reported a slightly better than expected full-year operating profit on Tuesday, demonstrating its pricing power in the face of historically high cocoa prices. Cocoa trades at around 6,908 pounds ($8,734.5) per metric ton in London, and analysts have said the chocolate industry is in for a rough 2025 as companies are faced with unprecedented cost of the raw material, likely to prompt further price hikes in a teens percentage. "Lindt continues to navigate this unprecedented cocoa bean price environment unabated, breaking record after record," Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said in a note.