Henkel reports strong performance in third quarter
Henkel reports a strong performance in the third quarter. In an increasingly challenging environment, the company further improved sales and earnings. For the full fiscal year 2017, Henkel confirmed its sales guidance.
“We continue to expect organic sales growth of 2 to 4 percent on group level and an increase of our adjusted EBIT margin to more than 17.0 percent. For adjusted earnings per preferred share we now expect an increase of around 9 percent,” said Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen.
Sales performance
In the third quarter 2017 sales grew nominally by 4.9 percent to 4,981 million EUR. Organic sales, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange effects and acquisitions/divestments, showed a strong increase of 3.0 percent. Adjusted return on sales (EBIT) rose by 0.4 percentage points to 18.0 percent.
Sales by region
In the Western Europe region sales remained organically on the level of the prior-year quarter. In all other regions sales increased organically: In Eastern Europe, sales grew by 4.8 percent. Africa/Middle East posted sales growth of 3.2 percent. Sales in North America increased by 3.2 percent. Latin America achieved sales growth of 2.8 percent, and in the Asia-Pacific region, sales grew by 6.4 percent.
Adhesive Technologies business
The Adhesive Technologies business unit generated very strong organic sales growth of 4.9 percent in the third quarter. In nominal terms, sales grew by 4.5 percent to 2,373 million EUR. Adjusted operating profit increased by 5.5 percent and reached 454 million EUR. Adjusted return on sales recorded a good increase, reaching 19.1 percent.
The first nine months of 2017
For the first time, nine-month sales exceeded 15 billion EUR and increased by 9.3 percent to 15,143 million EUR. Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) rose by 10.5 percent from 2,407 million EUR to 2,660 million EUR.
The Adhesive Technologies business unit generated very strong organic sales growth of 4.6 percent.
