German personal care giant Henkel generated sales of €4.18bn in the third quarter of 2013, falling 2.6% on the previous year. Overall organic sales growth, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions/divestments, reached 4.2%, while Beauty Care achieved organic growth of 3.1%. Meanwhile, net income for the quarter rose by 16.7%, from €402m to €469m, and reported operating profit (EBIT) came to €649m compared with €586m in the third quarter of 2012.
“Despite an increasingly challenging market environment, Henkel continued its strong performance in the third quarter and was able to accelerate organic growth quarter by quarter in 2013. We significantly increased both earnings and profitability – with our EBIT margin exceeding 16% for the first time,” said Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted.
“We achieved solid organic sales growth with all our business sectors and regions contributing. The emerging markets once again showed a particularly dynamic development. However, foreign exchange effects negatively impacted reported sales.”