Henkel: record turnover but lower profits

German multinational Henkel has reached a record quarterly turnover of 5.14 billion euro, but higher prices for raw materials and adverse exchange rate effects have pushed expected profits down.

Growth everywhere

With an organic turnover growth of 3.5 %, Henkel has recovered from the blow it suffered from logistical problems in the United States. “We achieved organic sales growth across all regions, with a very strong performance in emerging markets and a good development in mature markets. Our North American consumer businesses returned to growth with service levels back to normal”, Belgian CEO Hans Van Bylen said. All business units (adhesive technologies, laundry & home care and beauty care) achieved growth as well.

While EBIT reached a new record of 926 million euro (+ 1.8 %), the adjusted earnings (EPS) went down 1.9 % because of higher prices for raw materials and negative effects from exchange rate fluctuations (especially the Turkish lira, Russian ruble and Mexican peso). The full year outlook therefore scales down expected profits from a 5 to 8 % growth to a 3 to 6 % growth.