Finance
Givaudan sales slowdown sends flavour maker's shares falling
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 29, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 29, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Givaudan's 2025 organic growth was 5.1%, below the 5.2% expected by analysts. Sales reached 7.47 billion francs, with a proposed dividend of 72 francs per share.
By Rafal Wojciech Nowak and Cian Muenster
Jan 29 (Reuters) - Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan missed expectations for yearly organic sales growth on Thursday, as a weaker performance of its flavours business outweighed resilient growth in fine fragrances.
As of 0925 GMT, the company's shares were down around 4.5%, trading at their lowest levels since October 2023.
Annual growth slowed to 5.1%, missing the 5.2% market forecast and Givaudan's own 5.5% guidance. The miss was largely down to the Taste & Wellbeing business, which supplies flavours for food and drinks, analysts from Jefferies said in a note.
Notably, the flavours unit's sales in the Asia Pacific fell 0.8% on a like-for-like basis, the only region to see no growth in 2025, Givaudan said.
Annual sales growth moderated in several markets, following an exceptionally strong 2024, finance chief Stewart Harris told Reuters, adding the year was marked by tougher conditions for Taste & Wellbeing in some regions, including Southeast Asia and Mexico.
The Fragrance & Beauty business, which creates scents for perfumes and household products, saw its like-for-like sales rise 7.9%, driven by an 18.3% surge in fine fragrances that offset a decline in ingredients for fragrances and beauty products.
Chinese and Indian competition was fierce in parts of the fragrance ingredients portfolio, Harris said, but added Givaudan’s higher share of speciality products worked as a buffer.
The company expects a relatively limited impact from raw material costs in 2026, though tariff-related effects remain uncertain, he said.
Givaudan also faces pressure from the strengthening of the Swiss franc on its unadjusted results, as it generates most of its sales in foreign currencies that lose value when converted.
Its net profit fell 1.7% to 1.07 billion francs in 2025, as the strong reporting currency stripped 370 million francs from sales.
Givaudan proposed an annual dividend of 72 francs per share, up 2.9% from last year's payout.
($1 = 0.7650 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Rafal Nowak and Cian Muenster in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
Organic growth refers to the increase in a company's sales and revenue generated from its existing business operations, excluding any growth from mergers, acquisitions, or external investments.
A dividend is a portion of a company's earnings distributed to its shareholders, typically in cash or additional shares, as a reward for their investment in the company.
Financial performance is a measure of how well a company uses its assets to generate revenue and profit, often evaluated through financial statements like income statements and balance sheets.
Market reaction refers to the response of investors and traders to news or events related to a company or the economy, often reflected in the movement of stock prices.
Sales growth analysis involves evaluating the increase in sales over a specific period, helping businesses understand their performance, market trends, and areas for improvement.
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