Henkel has reported organic sales growth of 6.6%, to around €5.6 billion, in the first quarter of its financial year.
The German consumer goods firm attributed its growth to ‘strong’ sales increases across both business units.
The Adhesive Technologies division saw organic growth of 6.8%, year on year, to €2.8 billion, while the Consumer Brands unit reported organic sales growth of 7%, to €2.8 billion.
‘A Good Start’
The CEO of Henkel, Carsten Knobel, said, “We had a good start to the year – despite a continuously challenging market environment. The very strong sales increase in both business units underlines the strength of our portfolio of successful brands and innovative technologies.
“In the first quarter, we continued our pricing measures to further compensate for the headwinds from raw-material and logistics costs.”
In the European region, the company saw organic sales growth of 4.2% during the quarter, while in the IMEA region, it increased by 27.8%.
Organic sales rose by 7.1% in North America and by 17.6% in Latin America, while they declined by 4.8% in the Asia-Pacific region.
Other Highlights
The laundry and home care segment in the Consumer Brands unit generated organic sales growth of 6.3%, with the laundry care business boosted by a good performance in the fabric-cleaning category and a double-digit increase in the fabric care category.
The home care business was driven by a double-digit sales increase in the dishwashing category.
Organic sales growth in the hair business area, including the professional business, was 9.9%, Henkel added.
Henkel also completed its first share buy-back programme, launched in 2022, in the first quarter.
By the end of March, the company had repurchased shares with a total value of around €1 billion.
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Outlook
For the 2023 financial year, the Persil-maker has forecast organic sales growth in the range of 1-3% for both business units.
Adjusted EBIT margin is expected to range between ten and 12%, with the performance of Adhesive Technologies ranging between 13 and 15%, and Consumer Brands between 7.5 and 9.5%.
“Today, we affirmed our guidance for 2023, and, based on the very strong organic sales development in the first quarter, we are looking at the current fiscal year with confidence,” Knobel added.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Dayeeta Das. For more A-brand news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
