Givaudan starts the year with a decline in sales

From January to March, revenue fell by 5.2 percent to 1.88 billion Swiss francs, as the supplier of flavors and fragrances for food, perfumes and household and personal care products announced on Tuesday. In organic terms, i.e. adjusted for currency and acquisition effects, growth amounted to 2.8 percent.

The momentum in organic growth has thus weakened further, after Givaudan had already fallen below the medium-term target range of 4 to 6 percent in the final quarter of 2025 at 3.2 percent. However, this does not come as a surprise: analysts had previously expected an even weaker figure of 1.7% for the first quarter of 2026 (AWP consensus).

Medium-term targets confirmed

The flavors business in particular performed weakly and recorded an organic decline of 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the fragrance segment grew organically by 5.9 percent. The company speaks of an environment with ongoing geopolitical volatility and challenging conditions in selected end markets. In view of higher input costs in the current year 2026, the Geneva-based group is also in the process of increasing its prices in order to "fully offset" the cost increase.

Despite the subdued development, the Group is sticking to its medium-term target range of 4 to 6 percent for the period 2026 to 2030. The management emphasizes that this is an average value and that weaker phases will be offset by stronger periods of growth.