Symrise has revealed its sales figures for the financial year 2020, in which organic sales grew by 2.7 percent. According to the German flavor house, organic sales growth was “slightly below the targeted range of 3 to 4 percent” due to a cybersecurity attack in December 2020, which temporarily caused significant disruptions to business operations.

This one-time effect is reflected in the sales figures of Q4 with organic growth of 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, production processes have been restored globally, the company maintains. 

For the profitability target, Symrise expects an EBITDA margin at the lower end of the 21 to 22 guidance range.

Sales impacted by cyber attack and COVID-related delays
“Symrise maintained a very solid performance in a market environment impacted by the coronavirus pandemic,” says Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, company CEO.

“We were well on track until mid-December 2020 when we became the target of a criminal cybersecurity attack with blackmailing intent. Consequently, our business operations were at times severely restricted, and we were unable to achieve our growth targets fully. However, we follow a clear ethical compass and reject any form of criminal fraud or extortion.”

Although there were some production and logistics delays, Symrise’s business operations are mostly back to normal. The company is proceeding at high speed to clear the backlog of orders, Bertram details. 

The cybersecurity attack represented a criminal attack by unknown perpetrators with blackmailing intent. 

Symrise had immediately shielded its IT infrastructure and shut down essential IT systems after it had become aware of the cybersecurity attack.. In addition, the company took comprehensive internal measures to counteract the attack and analyze the impact. 

Solid sales growth
Despite the heterogeneous market environment shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, Symrise achieved organic sales growth of 2.7 percent in 2020. 

Growth was impacted by the slower sales development in December, which resulted from the cyber attack. The fourth quarter recorded organic sales growth of 0.7 percent. 

Excluding this one-time effect and based on a good sales performance in October and November and a robust order intake, Symrise would have achieved its original targets. 

Taking negative currency translation effects of €152 million (US$184 million) (-4.5 percent) into account, group sales in reporting currency amounted to €3.521 billion (US$4.263 billion), compared to €3.408 billion (US$4.126 billion) in 2019. This represents an increase of 3.3 percent.

Symrise remains confident that it will achieve an EBITDA margin at the lower end of the guidance range of 21 to 22 percent for the full year of 2020.

The company aims to increase its annual sales to €5.5 billion (US$6.6 billion) to €6.0 billion (US$7.2 billion) by 2025. Symrise wants to achieve this with an organic yearly growth of 5 to 7 percent (CAGR) and additional targeted acquisitions. In the medium term, profitability should remain within a target corridor of 20 to 23 percent.