Lindt & Sprüngli has reported that its 2010 net profit jumped 25.3 per cent to SFr241.9 million ($262.6 million) as demand rose for its premium chocolates.

However, sales at the company, which has its headquarters outside Zurich, were up by just 2.2 per cent at SFr 2.6 billion, hurt by the strong Swiss franc against major currencies.

“During the period of global recession, consumers had tended to move over to more low-priced private labels; however, as the upturn set in, the demand for high-quality products returned,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

Lindt said that in 2010 all its subsidiaries, except for Australia, posted faster growth than the market, with gains led by the United States, Canada and Britain.

In its outlook, the company said a further recovery of the global economy and an improvement in consumer sentiment could be expected in the current financial year.

But it warned that instability would continue in the commodities market, particularly for cocoa due to political unrest in the world’s biggest cocoa producing country, Ivory Coast.

“The trend of prices for other raw materials, such as milk, sugar and nuts, also remains hard to predict,” it added.

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