Henkel achieves higher margin despite declining sales

Henkel, owner of brands such as Persil and Schwarzkopf, managed to improve its profitability in 2025 despite a challenging economic climate. Sales declined, mainly due to exchange rate effects.

Geopolitical tensions

Henkel’s reported sales fell by 5.1% to around €20.5 billion last year, mainly due to negative exchange rate effects and divestments in the portfolio. Adjusted for exchange rate effects and acquisitions, sales rose by 0.9%. In a year of weak demand, the multinational focused on efficiency, and it paid off: the EBIT margin improved by 0.5 percentage points to 14.8%, demonstrating that Henkel was able to increase its profitability despite pressure on sales.