Givaudan meets third-quarter forecasts despite Europe's slowdown
According to Reuters, sales at the group were 1.12 billion Swiss francs ($1.17 billion) in the third quarter, in line with its' analysts estimates.
The company confirmed its target to grow underlying annual sales by 4.5-5.5% over the mid-term, even though third-quarter sales fell slightly short, coming in at 4.3%.
Although Europe did not prove prosperous for the fragrance and flavours group, healthy growth in emerging markets saved the day where rising middle classes are fueling demand for fragrances used in perfumes or cosmetics.
The fragrance division in particular rose 4.8% to 553 million francs buoyed by strong double-digit gains in Latin America.
Givaudan now focusing on strengthening process development and research capabilities
The Swiss perfumer announced that it had acquired 100% of the shares of Soliance SA and its subsidiaries back in July, as it looked to strengthen its process development and research capabilities, particularly in the cosmetics sector.
French firm Soliance has developed, produced and sold active ingredients to the cosmetic industry for 30 years and offers the perfumer a solid sustainable skin care option, particularly with its ingredients range derived from vegetable sources, microorganisms and microalgae.
In turn, this will build on the existing Givaudan active cosmetic ingredients business and enhance its current portfolio offering.
The deal was originally revealed to be in motion earlier this year and came as no surprise to those close to the industry. Since then Givaudan has been working to get ahead with making its mark on this new portfolio of cosmetics actives.
"Soliance represents Givaudan's first acquisition since that of Quest. Its current portfolio of active cosmetic ingredients and strong process development and research capabilities fit well into the five strategic pillars of Givaudan," said Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan at the time of the acquisition.
