Givaudan half-year growth driven by fine perfumery

Swiss group Givaudan, the global leader in perfume and fragrance, on Thursday published an increase in revenues for the first half of the year, carried by its acquisitions and fine perfumery growth.

For the first six months of the year, profit lifted 4.5% to 384 million Swiss francs (348 million euros), while sales increased 6.4 %, to 2.4 billion Swiss francs, according to the group in a press release. 

While profits exceeded expectations -- analysts predicted on average the figure to be 367 million Swiss francs -- total sales fell short, missing forecasts of 2.5 billion.

At 9:57 GMT, the firm's stock fell 1.58% to 1.929 Swiss francs, while the SMI, the index of the Swiss stock exchange, was up 0.05%.

"Although the results for the first half of the year seem to be below expectations, we believe that underlying profits remain robust," Jean-Philippe Bertschy, analyst at Vontobel, said in a statement.

After a long break from acquisitions, the group started buying firms again in 2014 with a series of targeted purchases.

The perfume division saw its grow slow to 0.4% when converted into Swiss francs, after a push in growth from fine perfumery, compared to the same period last year.

The group confirmed its future goals for 2010, still eyeing sales growth of 4 to 5%. 

Givaudan is currently in the process of putting into place a program that looks to federate its global competences and leading practices between its different sites. The investment, amounting to 170 million francs, will save 60 million francs a year in the long term.