Chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli said net profit rose 1.9 per cent in 2011 to SFr246.5 million ($273 million), just ahead of the average analyst forecast.

The company said rising joblessness was dampening consumer sentiment and that Europe's debt crisis made the coming year hard to assess, but stuck to its growth target for 2012.

According to Reuters, analysts had expected a net profit of SFr244 million.

The maker of Lindor chocolate balls and gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies, based at Kilchberg on Lake Zurich, missed expectations for its organic sales growth in 2011 as demand for its products slowed considerably in debt crisis-shaken southern Europe.

"Commodity markets remain volatile and consumers are being destabilised by the prospect of a worsening employment market," the firm said.

But it added that it was maintaining its target for annual organic growth of six-eight per cent.

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