Germany's Henkel has today given a soft guidance for 2025 organic sales growth, projecting a slower start to the year due to tough industrial environment and muted consumer sentiment especially in North America.
The Persil detergent and Loctite glue maker's shares fell 7.6% this morning, among the worst performers on Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 index.
Henkel, a rival to market leaders L'Oreal and Procter & Gamble, has been grappling with subdued consumer spending on personal and home care products and weakness in industrial sectors such as automotive and electronics.
North America made up 28% of its global sales last year.
The Schwarzkopf owner said it expected organic sales to grow between 1.5% and 3.5% in 2025, factoring in a moderate rise in both industrial and consumer demand across key areas of its consumer goods business.
After a slow start, the growth should accelerate in the course of the year and lead to a stronger second half, it said.
At 2.5%, the mid-point of the outlook is below the 3% growth estimated by analysts polled by Vara Research.
For 2024, the consumer goods and adhesives maker reported 2.6% organic sales growth to €21.6 billion, missing analysts' average forecast of 3.2%.
It expects prices for direct materials to rise in a low to mid-single-digit percentage in 2025, while the currency exchange effect will be neutral or negative in low single digits, it said.
It forecast an annual operating margin of 14% to 15.5%, compared to 14.3% last year.
Henkel proposed a dividend of €2.04 per preferred share, up 10.3% from a year earlier, and said in a separate statement that it would repurchase shares for up to €1 billion.
