A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
Swiss flavours and fragrance business saw sales from FIS, its newly acquired flavour business from Nestle, help the company to record overall sales of SF2.7 billion (€1.9bn) for 2002.
In a market environment driven by ongoing customer consolidation and price pressures the company reported yesterday that operating profit rose to SF432 million, an increase of 3.6 per cent compared to 2001, representing a 15.5 per cent margin compared to 14.9 per cent last year. But integration charges and impairment of financial assets had an impact on net income after tax which was slightly below the previous year's level, decreasing in comparable terms from SF280 million to SF274 million.
The company maintained that strong results from its Flavour division, with a pro forma growth of 6.7 per cent in local currencies, helped to reinforce Givaudan's position 'as the clear global leader in the flavour industry.'
The company remained upbeat in its overall aim to become 'the undisputed global leader in taste and smell' adding that its share buy-back programme, initiated in October 2002, is now well advanced and will, after completion, increase earnings per share by 8.3 per cent.