In the third quarter of 2017 nominal sales rose by 4.9 per cent to 4.981 billion euros. Exchange rate differences had a negative effect of 4.2 per cent. Acquisitions and sales made up 6.1 per cent of the growth in sales.
Organic sales, which exclude the effects of exchange rate differences and purchase/sales, marked a strong growth of 3.0 per cent.
Corrected operating profit (EBIT) grew by 7.1 per cent to 897 million euros.
Corrected sales revenue (EBIT margin) grew by 0.4 percentage points to 18.0 per cent.
Corrected earnings per priority share (EPS) grew 8.5 per cent, by 1.42 euros to 1.54 euros.
Net operating capital was 0.4 percentage points higher than in the same period last year, reaching 5.6 per cent.
“Henkel made strong progress in the third quarter and further increased both sales and profits despite the demanding market environment”, said Henkel’s executive director Hans Van Bylen.
“All three operating sectors contributed to this positive growth. We achieved a strong organic sales growth of 3 per cent, while the growth in nominal sales rose 5 per cent.”
He added that Henkel had confirmed sales expectations for the whole of the fiscal year 2017.
“We are completely dedicated to continuing this successful development in pursuing the company’s strategic aims. We continue to expect an organic sales growth between 2 and 4 per cent at group level and increased corrected EBIT margin over 17.0 per cent. As for corrected earnings per priority share, we expect growth of 9 per cent.”