Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG / Half Year Results

21.08.2007

Release of a Adhoc News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chocoladefabriken
LINDT & SPRÃœNGLI AG

Media Release

Kilchberg, August 21, 2007

SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT
January - June 2007

- Lindt Sales top CHF 1 billion mark already by June 30 for the first
time ever.

- High double-digit sales growth: +15,7% in CHF, +13,5% in local
currencies.

- Operating profit (EBIT) improves by CHF 16,2 million to CHF 31,7
million.

- Lindt & Sprüngli continues trend in long-term growth and acquires
further market shares.

As in 2006, the semi-annual report for 2007 is based on IFRS accounting
standards.


KEY FIGURES 2007 2006 Change
INCOME STATEMENT January-June January-June
(unaudited) CHF millions CHF millions %/millions


Sales growth in local currencies 13.5%
Sales 1'138.2 983.4 15.7%
Other income 5.8 3.7
Total income 1'144.0 987.1 15.9%
Total Expenses -1'112.3 -971.6
Operating profit (EBIT) 31.7 15.5 CHF 16.2 Mio.
Net financial result 1.0 -1.4
Income before taxes 32.7 14.1 CHF 18.6 Mio.
Taxes -9.7 -4.2
Semi-annual net income 23.0 9.9 CHF 13.1 Mio.
Employees 6'804 6'397 6.3%


KEY FIGURES BALANCE SHEET 30.6.2007 31.12.2006
(unaudited) CHF millions % CHF millions %

ASSETS
Property, plant & equipment 742.5 671.5
Intangible assets & financial assets 44.2 40.0
Total non-current assets 786.7 40.3 711.5 33.4
Inventories 424.1 358.5
Receivables/other assets 409.2 803.8
Securities & cash 330.6 257.3
Total current assets 1'163.9 59.7 1'419.6 66.6
Total assets 1'950.6 100.0 2'131.1 100.0


LIABILITIES
Share & participation capital 22.4 22.2
Treasury stock -7.4 -8.3
Retained earnings and other reserves 1'143.3 1'141.9
Total shareholders' equity 1'158.3 59.4 1'155.8 54.2
Total non-current liabilities 326.7 16.7 318.8 15.0
Accounts payable to suppliers/other 191.5 279.6
Accrued liabilities 260.6 330.1
Bank & other borrowings 13.5 46.8
Total current liablities 465.6 23.9 656.5 30.8
Total liabilities & shareholders' 1'950.6 100.0 2'131.1 100.0
equity



COMMENT

The Lindt & Sprüngli Group has managed to maintain the sustained positive
developments of recent years. With high, double-digit organic growth of
+13,5% in local currencies and a 15,7% sales' increase in Swiss francs,
Lindt & Sprüngli is growing faster than the overall market and is winning
market share in all markets and segments. The efficiency of the strategy
pursued for years now focusing on the exclusive positioning in the premium
chocolate segment, uncompromising product quality and the continuous flow
of innovations has thus been impressively confirmed yet again. A uniform
global communications strategy and ongoing brand support are other factors
that have contributed to the Group's success.

When analyzing the Group's earnings in the first half of 2007, it is
important to bear in mind the seasonal and gift-oriented nature of the
premium chocolate business: the Lindt & Sprüngli Group makes around 40% of
its annual sales during the first half of each year, but at the end of June
these sales are charged with around half of the fixed costs of production,
administration and marketing. This means that the profitability of the
Lindt & Sprüngli Group in relation to sales in the first half of the year
cannot be equated with its profitability over the year as a whole.

The excellent growth in sales during the first half of 2007 has seen
operating profit (EBIT) rise substantially by CHF 16.2 million to CHF 31.7
million or +104%, while the semi-annual net income has increased by CHF
13.1 million to CHF 23.0 million or +131%.

MARKET

In line with economic growth in Europe and the slight drop in unemployment
figures, consumer confidence remains optimistic in the majority of the
countries despite rising interest rates and higher taxes on consumption.
Retail sales also continue to develop positively. In some countries,
however, retailers with full product range and discounters find themselves
in a stiffly competitive environment and this has led to particularly
aggressive pricing policies by these market players. Against this backdrop,
the most important chocolate markets overall showed a slight increase in
value compared with last year, while the actual volumes sold continued to
stagnate or even fall.

Two distinct trends of the past years are becoming increasingly clear: on
the one hand, continuing growth in the premium quality segment with an
increasing preference for dark chocolate with a high cocoa content and, on
the other, a generally positive development of low-priced private labels.

SALES

For the first time ever, Lindt & Sprüngli has reached sales of more than
one billion Swiss francs by June 30, precisely CHF 1.138 billion, which is
equivalent to an increase of CHF 154.8 million, or 15.7% in Swiss francs
and 13.5% in local currencies over last year's same period. With the
exception of the USD and the CAD, all other relevant currencies firmed
against the Swiss franc compared with the first half of 2006, leading to an
added improvement of 2.2 percentage points in Swiss francs. All Group
companies played a part in this success and in gaining market shares in all
segments.

PRODUCT SEGMENTS

Lindt & Sprüngli pays major importance to intensive market and consumer
research, which enables the company to identify and interpret consumer
needs and habits at an early stage.

As always, continuous renewal of the product range - also in the seasonal,
gift-oriented premium chocolate segment - had a very significant influence
on the spring business. Overall, selective new products launched to
coincide with Valentine's Day, Easter and Mother's Day resulted in
double-digit growth compared with last year.

On Valentine's Day, LINDT specialties once again achieved encouraging
growth, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon markets (UK, Australia, USA,
Canada). However, Valentine's Day is becoming increasingly important in
other western European countries thanks to new and innovative product
concepts. Easter business this year was further supported by the relative
lateness of the festival. The attractive Easter collection is updated every
year and helped LINDT to further extend and consolidate its position in
this important segment.

In the somewhat static chocolate tablet segment, an attractive and varied
range of products (bought mainly for self-consumption) that exceed
consumers' expectations is vital. The first highly popular product line in
LINDT's tablet segment, which caters to the increasingly important trend
towards dark premium chocolate, is EXCELLENCE.

The second very successful pillar in this sector is the filled tablet
segment. Here, LINDT generated enormous interest in all markets with
original new products like PETITS DESSERTS. However, the existing specialty
chocolate tablets based on long-proven milk recipes continue to be popular
and extremely successful. Apart from these, product concepts like CREATION
70% launched in the second half of 2006 or SENSATION FRUIT in the first
half of 2007 were successfully developed and increased in popularity.

In the pralinés segment, LINDOR balls continue their impressive success
following the introduction of novel specialties such as a dark chocolate
variant with 60% cocoa and are one of the most successful and best-known
LINDT products worldwide. The Group further consolidated its position as a
manufacturer of dark pralinés with a high cocoa content following the
introduction of EXCELLENCE specialties and various products showing the
provenance of cocoa beans from single origins. The well-known SWISS
TRADITION pralinés assortments were effectively relaunched with a new
image; additional new products and innovations for all markets are
currently in the pipeline in preparation for the autumn and Christmas
seasons.

COMPANIES

European companies: The joint segment Europe and Middle East showed solid
growth of 16.2% in Swiss francs, taking them to CHF 800.6 million. Compared
with last year, Lindt & Sprüngli reported sales increases between 4% and
30% and higher market shares in all its markets. Most major European
markets reported outstanding double-digit growth. Compared with last year,
LINDT's companies in France, Austria and Spain, together with the export
markets in Europe and the Middle East, reported highly encouraging growth
rates substantially above the market average. In the UK, too, growth rates
remained at a high double-digit level, while those in Switzerland, Germany
and Italy weakened slightly. Very good progress was reported in expanding
markets like Poland and Sweden.

Growth in the seasonal sector and in the permanent business of the European
Lindt & Sprüngli Group companies was driven by the enormous product variety
as well as creativity in product development and innovative marketing
concepts. With the middle-to-low market segment becoming increasingly
difficult for market participants, Lindt & Sprüngli further consolidated
its seasonal business during the first half of the year with successful new
product launches, and extended its strong position in the premium segment
of the tablet and pralinés sector.

North American companies: Growth rates for the four North and Latin
American companies increased by an average of 14.5% to CHF 245.3 million,
or by 18,5% to USD 200 million in local currencies. This is substantially
above the growth of the overall market and resulted in considerable gains
in market share. Owing to the continuing expansion of the distribution
network and increased listings, business with the retail trade is growing
over proportionally. These dynamics are also promising potentials for the
future. In the USA and Canada, the premium chocolate segment has been
growing faster than the overall chocolate market due to positive economic
conditions and consumer confidence in these countries and, to a
considerable extent, thanks to the investments made by LINDT and
GHIRARDELLI. These developments were accompanied by the entry of numerous
competitors in the premium sector, all making concerted attempts to
establish themselves in this segment. The excellent developments for Lindt
& Sprüngli are due to faster product rotation, the extension of the product
range available to existing trade channels and expanded distribution to new
customers. The product focus remains firmly on LINDOR and EXCELLENCE, while
Ghirardelli concentrated on its extremely successful SQUARES, which were
complemented by new specialties with a high cocoa content. These positive
developments were given an additional boost by the expansion of the
seasonal range to include high-quality gift items from LINDT and
GHIRARDELLI.

Ongoing investments in marketing led to increased awareness of the two
brands in North America among both consumers and retailing partners. The
trade is becoming increasingly attuned to the potential and attractiveness
of LINDT's and GHIRARDELLI's premium concepts and providing them with
ever-greater support.

Other markets: In Australia, Lindt & Sprüngli has established itself as one
of the leading chocolate manufacturers, having reached high double-digit
sales growth and acquiring considerable gains in market share. Apart from
its very successful pralinés and seasonal business, the company has also
shown encouraging growth rates in the tablet segment. Uninterrupted
progress in the premium segment is attracting more and more market players
looking to profit from the situation.

The second Lindt Chocolate Café was opened in Sydney in autumn 2006 and got
off to a very good start. The high-quality concept on which the café is
based has proven extremely successful and as a result a third café is
scheduled to open later this year.

Excellent progress was also made in duty free business as well as by export
markets in overseas.

COSTS

Thanks to Lindt & Sprüngli's carefully orchestrated long-term procurement
and purchasing policies, price increases for raw materials like cocoa,
cocoa butter and dairy products - some of them massive - during the first
half of 2007 had no overall negative effect on costs:

material costs as a proportion of sales as of June 30, 2007 stood at 32%, a
slight increase of 0.1 percentage point over the same period in 2006
(31.9%).

In view of high worldwide demand and the uncertainty of the harvests,
prices of bulk cocoa on the futures stock exchanges as well as the ratio
for cocoa butter both rose. As a result of increasing consumer demand for
products with a high cocoa content, the prices paid for flavor

cocoa also rose significantly. Milk prices, both on the world markets and
in the protective Swiss and EU trading areas, also tended upwards. The cost
of packaging material, on the other hand, remained virtually unchanged in
comparison to last year.

As a proportion of sales, personnel costs remained constant at 24.8%.
Compared with last year, the workforce increased by 407 to 6804 full-time
employees.

As a percentage of sales, operating costs remained virtually unchanged at
38.1% compared with the same period last year. As in previous years
marketing investments, which are included under operating expenses,
continued to rise at an above-average rate, helping to further strengthen
and consolidate the LINDT brand in all the world's important chocolate
markets. And likewise, as in previous years, the operating expenses in the
areas of administration and sales were under proportional compared with the
total increase in turnover.

INCOME

Thanks to excellent sales growth, a slight improvement in the gross margin
and optimum cost control in all areas, operating profit (EBIT) rose by CHF
16.2 million to CHF 31.7 million compared with the same period last year
despite increased marketing investments.

After taking into account the slightly higher net financial result and an
unchanged tax rate, the half-yearly profit rose by CHF 13.1 million to CHF
23 million.

BALANCE SHEET

Compared with the end of 2006, the balance sheet total fell by CHF 180.5
million as a result of the seasonal reduction in working capital. In view
of the high level of investments carried out during the first half of 2007,
non-current assets rose by around CHF 75 million compared with the end of
the year. As of June 30, 2007, the shareholders' equity ratio stood at
59.4%, which reflected the Group's continuing financial solidity. As of
June 30, 2007 the net financial position stood at a comfortable CHF 218
million, which represents an increase of CHF 42 million over the first six
months of 2006.

OUTLOOK

FOR FULL YEAR 2007

Sales: Organic growth during the first half of 2007 stood at 13,5%, once
again clearly in excess of medium to long-term targets of 6% to 8%.
Nevertheless, Lindt & Sprüngli intends to stick to these long-term
bandwidths. In view of the results achieved in the first half of 2007, the
Lindt & Sprüngli Group's short-term forecast, i.e. for 2007 overall, is an
increase in sales of 10%, or slightly higher. It should be remembered that
growth during the same period last year was very strong.

In view of the massive increase in commodity prices of recent months -
particularly of the flavor cocoa so important for Lindt & Sprüngli -
adjustments to the prices of products are increasingly more likely.
However, Lindt & Sprüngli firmly believes that a price increase would be
accepted by consumers because of LINDT's exclusive positioning in the
premium chocolate segment and the unconditional product quality.

Capital Expenditures: Providing the needed capacity to keep up with the
Group's high-level growth (both sales and volume) will require high annual
capital expenditures from 2007 to 2009. The level of investment for the
current year will be substantially over CHF 200 million.

As part of its commitment to uncompromising quality for its consumers,
Lindt & Sprüngli believes in carrying out every single stage of the
production process in house. The Group is one of few chocolate
manufacturers that still maintains complete control over every phase of
production. This strategy is in strong contrast to the clear tendency in
the industry to outsource one or several production steps to industrial
manufacturers.

Lindt & Sprüngli believes that its philosophy of total control throughout
the manufacturing process is a decisive investment in the trust and
confidence of consumers which will give it a valuable long-term competitive
advantage.

Profit: As in previous years, Lindt & Sprüngli is striving for a long-term
increase in operating profit margin (EBIT) of approximately 20-40 base
points compared with the same period for the previous year. It is confident
of reaching this objective again in 2007. The net income for the year
should also benefit from slight improvements in the net financial result
and tax rate.

_______________________________________________________________________


The Lindt & Sprüngli Group will publish financial information on the
following dates:

-January 22, 2008 Net Sales for 2007

-March 18, 2008 2007 Year-end Presentation to the Press (morning)

2007 Year-end Presentation to Financial Analysts
(afternoon)

-April 25, 2008 110th Annual General Meeting

-Second-half of August 2008: Release of Semi-Annual Report January to
June 2008


Additional Information available under

www.lindt.com (Investor Relations - Semi-Annual Report 2007)
21.08.2007

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Language: English
Issuer: Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG
Seestrasse 204
8802 Kilchberg
Schweiz
Phone: + 41 44 716 25 37
Fax: + 41 44 716 26 60
E-mail: cweber@lindt.com
Internet: www.lindt.com
ISIN: CH0010570759, CH0010570767
WKN: 1057075, 1057076
Indices:
Listed: Foreign Exchange(s) SWX

End of News DGAP News-Service

---------------------------------------------------------------------------