Swiss group Givaudan, specializing in perfumes and flavours, announced on Friday January 24 a record profit for the 2024 financial year, driven once again by strong demand in perfumery. The group said it expected to exceed its five-year growth target.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the company never publishes annual forecasts but five-year targets. It confirmed that it is aiming for organic sales growth of 4% to 5% for the period up to 2025. However, it is “highly likely to exceed the upper end” of its target since its like-for-like sales grew by an average of 7.2% for the period 2021-2024, Givaudan said in a press statement.
The net income was CHF 1,090 million (EUR 1,150 million) in 2024 compared to CHF 893 million in 2023, an increase of 22.1% in Swiss francs.
The group’s full year sales were CHF 7,412 million, an increase of 12.3% on a like-for-like basis and an increase of 7.2% in Swiss francs when compared to 2023.
Volume recovery
After several price hikes to compensate for inflation, growth was driven in 2024 by an “exceptionally high increase in volumes, which exceeded 10%”, Givaudan said in its annual report.
The group’s growth was mainly driven by the perfumes and beauty division, with a sales increase of 14.1% excluding currency effects and acquisitions. In fine perfumery, sales grew by 18.4% despite a very high comparison base after several years of strong expansion in this segment.
The Fragrance Ingredients and Active Beauty businesses delivered growth of 11.1% like-for-like.
Givaudan, which had successfully diversified into skincare through acquisitions, further expanded its business range by taking over the entirety of b.kolormakeup & skincare in July. The acquisition of this Italian company, in which it had already taken a stake in 2021, gave it a foothold in the makeup category.
Sales in the ‘Taste & Wellbeing’ division were CHF 3,752 million, an increase of 10.7% on a like-for-like basis and an increase of 4.1% in Swiss francs, against a comparable growth of 1.1% like-for-like in 2023.
