Chocolate maker Lindt sees sales rise after US deal

Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli has reported a sharp rise in sales for the first half of 2015, helped by its purchase of US firm Russell Stover.

Sales rose 17.4% from a year earlier to 1.4bn Swiss francs ($1.48bn: £957m).

Excluding its purchase of Russell Stover, sales were up 9.4%.

However, the rise was slightly below expectations. Lindt said it had been hit by higher raw material prices and the strength of the Swiss currency.

Lindt said that key markets for chocolate such as Switzerland and Europe were "largely saturated, with very little growth".

However, it added it had grown market share in Germany and France, and was also seeing good growth in the UK and US.