* Sales growth 7.9 pct in 2015, organic sales up 7.1 pct
* Expecting operating margins in line with previous year
* Full-year sales 3.65 bln Swiss francs
* Shares down 4 percent
(Adds CEO comments)
By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi
ZURICH, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Lindt &
Spruengli LISN.S expects to outperform a sluggish market in
2016 thanks to a sharper focus in the United States were
consumption is seen reviving, its chairman said on Thursday.
The maker of Lindor chocolate balls and foil-wrapped Easter
bunnies reported 2015 sales of 3.65 billion Swiss francs ($3.6
billion), falling short of a 3.74 billion forecast in a Reuters
poll and knocking 4 percent off its shares.
Chocolate makers are grappling with weak growth in the
global market but Lindt has been doing better than rivals thanks
to its focus on high-margin premium chocolates and a determined
push into the North American market.
On a like-for-like basis and stripping out currency changes,
sales for the firm based in Kilchberg on Lake Zurich rose 7.1
percent in 2015 and Executive Chairman Ernst Tanner said he
expected sales to be in the 6-8 percent mid-term range in 2016.
"It was the most challenging year I have experienced,"
Tanner said in an interview with Reuters, citing high raw cocoa
prices, adverse weather conditions and a strong Swiss franc.
Tanner said while he expected only two percent growth in the
global chocolate market this year as in 2015, Lindt had reasons
to be optimistic for 2016 with consumer moods expected to
brighten in the United States.
"There are lots of positive signs for this year."
Lindt became the third biggest chocolate seller in the
United States after acquiring Russell Stover in 2014 and Tanner
said North America would remain its main growth market, even if
sales growth slowed last year.
Analysts have cited Russell Stover, acquired by Lindt for
$1.3-1.5 billion as Tanner disclosed last year, as a drag on
group growth, posting historic rises below the company average.
Tanner said Lindt had eliminated some Russell Stover
activities. "We want to focus on strategically important
activities."
"This year, we replaced Godiva at the Golden Globes in
Hollywood. Once you're there, on the stage with all the movie
stars and on television around the world, this is again
strengthening our worldwide image," he said.
While analysts see Lindt as a high quality business, some
have expressed concerns about its valuation following the 2015
sales miss.
Trading at 43 times annual earnings per share for its
ordinary shares, Lindt stock is valued at roughly double that of
rivals such as Barry Callebaut BARN.VX and Nestle NESN.VX
based on a 12-month forward valuation.
"Lindt's demanding relative valuation versus quality peers
like Nestle was mainly justified in the past by Lindt's superior
top-line growth," said analysts at Baader Helvea.
"Lindt now having to show a slowdown, which seems not only
driven by Russell Stover, could lead investors (to) rethink
their mid-term view," they said.
Tanner said the company would prioritise market share gains
over price increases this year. Lindt said it expected its
full-year operating margins to be "at least at last year's
level".
Full results are due on March 8.
($1 = 1.0072 Swiss francs)