Givaudan Maintains Targets Despite Drop in Sales

The Flavour Division recorded sales of CHF 1,637.9 million, representing an increase of 1.1% in local currencies and a decline of 2.9% in Swiss francs. Excluding the effects of the divested business, growth in local currencies was 1.5%.

09 Oct 2009 --- Givaudan’s sales momentum continues to improve with positive growth for the last two quarters compared to the previous year. Sales during the first nine months were CHF 3,025.5 million, an increase of 0.4% in local currencies and a decrease of 3.9% in Swiss francs. Excluding the effects of the divested business in the Flavour Division, growth in local currencies was 0.6%.

For the full year 2009, Givaudan remains confident to outgrow the underlying market, based on the solid brief pipeline and recent new wins.
 
The integration achievements of Quest have reinforced Givaudan’s unique platform for accelerated growth and performance improvement. Givaudan continues to leverage its growth initiatives to increase its share in developing countries and in key market segments.

The company is confident to achieve the announced savings target of CHF 200 million by 2010 and therefore to reach its pre-acquisition EBITDA margin level of 22.7% by 2010.
 
The Flavour Division recorded sales of CHF 1,637.9 million, representing an increase of 1.1% in local currencies and a decline of 2.9% in Swiss francs. Excluding the effects of the divested business, growth in local currencies was 1.5%. The sales momentum for the division continued to improve in the third quarter, with the division posting a growth of 2.9% in local currencies. The weak economy continued to impact the sales growth in North America, Central and Eastern Europe, whilst in Asia Pacific and Latin America, the division posted strong growth.

Fuelled by new wins, sales in Asia Pacific increased at a high single digit rate.  The developing markets grew at a double digit rate with particularly strong sales in China, Indonesia and India.  The mature markets have shown signs of recovery in recent months.  All segments contributed to the strong growth.
 
Sales in the third quarter in Europe, Africa and Middle East showed a slight improvement due to the renewed strength in the mature markets. Africa and the Middle East posted strong growth.
 
Sales in North America declined at a low single digit rate with improvements in Sweet Goods, Beverage and Dairy as new wins and new technology help offset volume erosion as the difficult economic conditions continue impacting our customers.
 
Sales in Latin America increased at a double digit rate.  All markets are above 2008 with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia posting very strong growth rates.  Most segments realised positive growth with Beverages leading the way followed closely by Dairy and Savoury, both driven by new wins.

The Fragrance Division recorded nine months sales of CHF 1,387.6  million, a decrease of 0.4% in local currencies and 5.1% in Swiss Francs. The sales recovery seen in the second quarter continued into the third quarter, with the division posting a growth of 3.1% in local currencies. All businesses reported a positive growth in the third quarter of 2009.