Givaudan has reported sales for the first six months of the year were CHF 3,094 million, an increase of 6.3% on a like-for-like basis and 15.7% in Swiss francs.

Fragrance Division sales were CHF 1,361 million, an increase of 8.6% on a like-for-like basis and 11.3% in Swiss francs. Flavour Division sales were CHF 1,733 million, an increase of 4.4% on a like-for-like basis and 19.4% in Swiss francs.

Givaudan says it continued the year with good business momentum and with the project pipeline and win rates being sustained at a high level. This excellent growth, it says, was achieved across all product segments and geographies, with its key strategic focus areas of Naturals, Health and well-being, Active Beauty, Integrated Solutions and local and regional customers delivering strong growth, complemented by the recent acquisitions.

The company says it continues to implement price increases in collaboration with its customers to compensate for the increases in input costs.

“Our strong performance for the first half of 2019 confirms the resilience of our business and our ability to consistently deliver industry leading financial performance,” said CEO Gilles Andrier. “I am very pleased with our results and with the continued progress we have made in delivering against our strategic goals under the 2020 strategy.”

Flavour Division sales were CHF 1,733 million, an increase of 4.4% on a like-for-like basis and 19.4% in Swiss francs. The sales of the Flavour Division include CHF 229 million from Naturex, acquired in September 2018.

The sales performance was driven by new wins and strong business momentum across all regions.

The key strategic focus areas of the 2020 strategy, namely Health and well-being and Naturals grew at double-digit and single-digit levels respectively.

From a segment perspective, Beverages, Sweet Goods, Savoury and Snacks were main contributors to the division’s growth.

EBITDA increased to CHF 390 million from 351 million in 2018, an increase of 11.1%, with continuing productivity gains and cost discipline contributing to the increase. The EBITDA margin was 22.5% in 2019, down from 24.2% in 2018, largely due to the impact of the lower margin on the acquired Naturex business. On a comparable basis the EBITDA margin of the Flavour Division was 23.1% in 2019 compared to 24.2% in 2018.

Operating income decreased to CHF 278 million in 2019 from CHF 286 million in 2018, a decrease of 3.0%. The operating margin was 16.0% in 2019 compared to 19.7% in 2018.