Persil-owner Henkel takes hit from weak US consumer sentiment

By Bartosz Dabrowski, Matthias Inverardi

(Reuters) -Germany's Henkel pointed to weaker consumer sentiment in North America as it reported a 1.0% fall in first-quarter sales on Thursday, below market expectations.

Henkel has been grappling with weakness in industrial sectors such as automotive and electronics, alongside sluggish demand for personal and home care products amid subdued consumer spending.

First-quarter sales in North America fell 3.4% organically to 1.43 billion euros. The region made up 28% of its sales last year. In March, Henkel said U.S. government decisions were hurting the North American market disproportionately.

"The situation triggered by the tariff debate ... is naturally one that introduces significant volatility," CEO Carsten Knobel said, adding that consumer sentiment in the U.S. is problematic.

Shares were trading down 0.44% at 1122 GMT, recovering losses after falling as much as 2.6% earlier.

The consumer goods and adhesives maker's sales in the three months to March 31 fell to 5.24 billion euros ($5.92 billion) from 5.32 billion a year earlier, below analysts' average estimate of 5.32 billion euros according to a Vara Research poll.

Sales in its adhesive technologies business, which also produces industrial adhesives for automotive, electronics and construction, grew 1.1% to 2.72 billion euros, despite a decline in the automotive segment.

However, sales in its consumer brands business, which makes Persil detergent, Schwarzkopf hair care and Dial soap, fell 3.5% to 2.48 billion euros, hit by a downturn in the laundry care segment.

Henkel confirmed its guidance for 2025, saying that to achieve the goal, it would focus on further optimising its portfolio of products in the consumer brands unit.

Henkel has sold or discontinued brands and activities for total sales of slightly over 1 billion euros since the beginning of 2022, recently selling its retailer brands business in North America to an affiliate of First Quality Enterprises, LLC.

($1 = 0.8844 euros)

(Reporting by Isabel Demetz, Bartosz Dabrowski and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Ewan Harwood)