Chemicals Givaudan continues to grow organically - momentum slows down
Givaudan continued to grow organically above guidance in the financial year 2025. However, the flavor and fragrance manufacturer lost momentum compared to the exceptionally strong previous year. In terms of profitability, the industry leader from Geneva made further gains.
29.01.2026, 06:27
SDA
Due to the clearly negative currency effect, sales in Swiss francs rose by only 0.8 percent to 7.47 billion Swiss francs, as the supplier of flavors and fragrances for food, perfumes and household and personal care products announced on Thursday.
Analysts' expectations narrowly missed
In organic terms, i.e. adjusted for acquisitions and sales as well as currency effects, growth amounted to 5.1 percent - in the previous year, however, it was still 12.3 percent. The company's own target range of 4% to 5% was therefore exceeded.
This fell just short of analysts' expectations. According to the AWP consensus, they had assumed organic growth of 5.2%.
The company attributed this development to broad-based demand in all regions and business areas as well as price adjustments to compensate for higher input costs. At the same time, the company said that it had proved operationally robust despite a volatile market environment and high year-on-year comparisons.
Slightly lower margins
In terms of profitability, however, the Geneva-based group had to accept a slight setback following the progress made recently. The operating result (EBITDA) fell by 0.8 percent to 1.75 billion Swiss francs and the corresponding margin to 23.4 percent after 23.8 percent in the previous year. Adjusted for one-off effects, the EBITDA margin rose to 24.2 percent (previous year: 24.5 percent). Analysts had hoped for more.
Net profit amounted to CHF 1.07 billion - 1.7% less than in the previous year. Shareholders can nevertheless look forward to a dividend of 72.00 francs per share - 2 francs more than in the previous year.
Targets confirmed under new management
The Geneva-based Group has not set any specific targets for the current financial year. However, the medium-term targets remain unchanged: In August, Givaudan held out the prospect of organic sales growth of at least 4 to 6 percent per year for the new five-year cycle from 2026 to 2030.
The new cycle is also accompanied by a change at the top of the Group. From March, Christian Stammkoetter will take over operational management from long-serving CEO Gilles Andrier, who will become Chairman of the Board of Directors. Givaudan announced the appointment together with the new objectives in the summer. Stammkoetter was previously responsible for the Asia, Middle East and Africa region as a manager at French food company Danone.
In the past five-year cycle from 2021 to 2025, the industry leader achieved organic growth of 6.8 percent.
