Henkel Grows Sales 4.8% for Q1 2012

Henkel reported solid sales growth and boosts profitability for the first quarter 2012. Sales rose 4.8% to €4,008 million (organic: +4.7%) for the company, and the cosmetics/toiletries division saw 4% organic growth. Additionally, emerging markets again showed above-average growth for company, increasing 8.7%.

“Henkel had a good start to the fiscal year in spite of a challenging and volatile market environment. We achieved solid organic growth and substantially improved our profitability,” said Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted. “All of our business sectors contributed to this achievement. Once again our emerging markets registered a strong development. Thus, we are confident of achieving our targets for 2012.”

Henkel’s sales in the first quarter of 2012 were at €4,008 million, an increase of 4.8% compared to the figure for the prior-year quarter. Organic sales, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions/divestments, again rose by 4.7%, a solid increase compared to the prior-year quarter.

All three of Henkel’s business sectors contributed to this development: with Cosmetics/Toiletries posting organic growth of 4%, Laundry & Home Care reporting an organic growth rate of 4.5%, and the Adhesive Technologies business sector generating the best organic sales growth at 5.6%. These performances were supported in all three business sectors by price increases the company was able to implement thanks to its innovations and strong brands.

For the fiscal year 2012, Rorsted stated, “We expect that volatility and uncertainty will continue to influence our markets. Therefore, we will continue to adapt our structures and processes so that we can respond more quickly and flexibly than our competitors.” Rorsted also confirmed Henkel’s guidance for fiscal 2012. “We continue to expect organic sales growth to be between 3–5%. For our adjusted EBIT margin we anticipate an increase to 14% and for adjusted earnings per preferred share we expect an improvement of at least 10%.”

Learn more about these financial results on Henkel’s website.

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