Lindt posts higher profit, 75% jump in dividend

ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s Lindt & Spruengli proposed a sweeter payout to shareholders on Tuesday with a proposal to increase its divided by 75% to mark its 175th anniversary, the chocolate maker said on Tuesday.

Annual net profit increased 5.1% to 511.9 million Swiss francs ($534.57 million), the company said, proposing to pay out a dividend of 1,750 francs per registered share for 2019.

The net profit was just below a 518.1 million franc estimate in a Refinitiv poll, but the dividend was well above the 1,080 franc estimate.

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz, editing by John Revill)