Finance
Givaudan's organic sales miss fuels demand concerns, knocking shares
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Givaudan's quarterly sales growth missed expectations, causing a 6% drop in shares. Currency effects and weaker growth in key divisions contributed to the shortfall.
By Rafal Wojciech Nowak
(Reuters) -Givaudan reported slower than expected quarterly organic sales growth on Tuesday, fuelling concerns over moderating demand and sending its shares 6% lower in morning trade.
Its organic or like-for-like sales, which are adjusted for currency effects and other one off costs, grew 5.2% in the second quarter, while analysts polled by the company had expected growth of 6.4%.
"The miss was primarily driven by the Taste & Wellbeing division, where organic growth was 3.2%," J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note. The Fragrance & Beauty division's 7.4% growth was also slightly below expectations, they added.
Givaudan's group sales were 1.89 billion Swiss francs ($2.37 billion) in the quarter, narrowly missing analysts' forecast.
"The continued strength of the Swiss franc is a headwind for us," Chief Financial Officer Stewart Harris told Reuters.
The company's unadjusted results face significant pressure from the strengthening of the Swiss franc, which is seen as a safe haven amid economic turmoil. Givaudan generates most of its sales in foreign currencies that lose value when converted.
Harris, however, underlined the company's resilience, which he said was built on its "very broad-based" exposure across businesses, geographies and client segments.
He added Givaudan was confident about its pricing power, after the company said in the earnings statement that it was continuing to implement price increases to offset higher input costs from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Givaudan reiterated its 2021-2025 organic growth target of 4-5% and said it was "highly likely" to exceed it. It will unveil a new strategy until 2030 during its investor day on August 27.
($1 = 0.7969 Swiss francs)
(Additional reporting by Jagoda Darlak in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
Organic sales growth refers to the increase in sales generated by a company's existing operations, excluding any revenue from acquisitions or divestitures.
Currency hedging is a financial strategy used to protect against potential losses from fluctuations in exchange rates by taking offsetting positions in currency markets.
The Swiss franc is the official currency of Switzerland and is known for its stability and strength, often considered a safe haven currency during economic turmoil.
Input costs are the expenses incurred by a company for the materials and resources needed to produce its goods or services.
Pricing power is the ability of a company to raise prices without losing customers, often due to brand strength or market dominance.
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