In the past quarter, German Henkel – manufacturer of brands like Schwarzkopf, Persil and Pritt – sold more, although the negative impact of the exchange rates meant turnover ended up lower than last year. Luckily for Henkel, profit did increase.
4.65 billion euro
Even though Henkel’s turnover dropped 0.9 % in the past quarter, down to 4.65 billion euro, like-for-like turnover actually grew 3.2 %. Each and every one of Henkel’s divisions achieved growth however: laundry detergent grew 5.3 %, glue 2.6 % and beauty 2.1 %. The emerging markets were Henkel’s prime growth area, with a 6.1 % autonomous turnover growth in the past quarter.
The company’s operational profit shot up 6.6 % to 819 million euro and its EBIT margin grew 120 points to 17.6 %. Net profit climbed 8 % to 572 million euro.
This strong performance prompted management to adjust its full-year forecast upward: it now expects a EBIT margin of 16.5 % at most and a 2 to 4 % full-year autonomous turnover growth. As it previously indicated, its adjusted profit per share should also grow from 8 to 11 %.
