Symrise releases first quarter results: up 7.5% with organic growth

10-May-2018 - Last updated on 10-May-2018 at 11:36 GMT

Group sales up by 1.5 % to € 776.9 million, including portfolio and exchange rate effects, the global fragrance and ingredients player says.

It saw an EBITDA margin with 20.1 % within target corridor, and states that shortage of some raw materials did not impact on delivery capability.

Symrise states that its guidance for 2018 and medium-term targets through to 2020 are affirmed by these results.

Fragrances and Cosmetic Ingredients out in front

According to Symrise’s report which accompanies its latest results, which cover the period Jan - Mar 2018, its Scent & Care division’s good sales growth owes a lot to its fragrances and cosmetics ingredients.

Scent & Care posted a 6.9 % organic sales increase in the first quarter, says the company.

Considering the negative currency effects and the portfolio effect from the Citratus acquisition, sales in reporting currency amounted to € 331.8 million, and thus were slightly lower than year-on-year.

Aroma Molecules in focus

The Aroma Molecules division delivered the strongest growth, with organic double-digit percentage increases, in particular in applications for fragrance ingredients.

The Cosmetic Ingredients division achieved strong organic growth in the high single-digit percentage range, showing particularly expansive developments in the Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions.

Beauty Care driving

The Fragrance division reported a moderate organic increase in sales, especially driven by the Beauty Care and Home Care business units.

Beauty Care, which develops and markets body and facial care applications, realized strong organic growth especially in the Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions.

In the Home Care business unit, healthy increases were seen in the Asia/Pacific, EAME and Latin America regions, mainly through new business with regional customers.

The Fine Fragrances business unit achieved a double-digit growth rate in Latin America as a result of higher demand from regional and local customers.

Negative currency effects

The EBITDA for the Scent & Care segment in the first quarter amounted to € 64.8 million (Q1 2017: € 71.9 million).

The year-on-year decrease reflects negative currency effects, higher prices for raw materials and the one-off gain from the sale of the Pinova industrial activities.

The EBITDA margin was 19.5 % (Q1 2017: 21.6 %).