Givaudan beats forecasts in tough 2022

Flavour maker Givaudan beats earnings forecasts in a tough year Reuters Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan reported better than expected earnings for a year characterized by high input costs and supply chain disruptions.

The group, which has so far passed steep input cost increases to customers, saw a slowdown in sales during the second half of 2022, particularly in its flavours business in North America.

The Geneva-based group has proposed a dividend of 67 francs per share, which is 1.5% higher than last year, and the annual profit rose 4.2% to 856 million Swiss francs $927.5 million, compared with analysts' average forecast of 806 million francs last year.

Sales rose by 5.3% on a like-for-like basis to 7.1 billion Swiss francs in 2022, while growing only 2.9% organically in the final quarter.

The core profit EBITDA margin was 20.9%, down from 22.5% in 2021.

German rival Symrise reported a lower than expected EBITDA margin on Monday due to impairment.

Givaudan and Symrise are the runners-up behind IFF Inc in the market share ranking for fragrances, flavours and ingredients for food and cosmetics. The industry, which has been expanding into functional foods and health ingredients, typically offers strong growth, driven by consumers in emerging markets, with few cyclical swings.

Emerging markets increased 9.9% organically in the year, with good growth across the board, according to Givaudan.

On a like-for-like basis, it confirmed its mid-term target of 4 -- 5% average organic sales growth per year.