China growth boosts Givaudan flavours unit
start to the year for number one flavours and fragrance maker
Givaudan.
At the flavours division figures fell slightly to CHF1.235 billion (€797n) from CHF1.238 billion a year earlier.
Overall, the one per cent rise in nine month sales for the group was helped by increased revenue from its fragrances unit.
Fragrance sales rose 2.8 per cent to CHF851 million francs.
And sales for the group in the nine months to September climbed to CHF2.086 billion, from CHF2.065 billion in the same period a year ago, said the Vernier -based company.
Highlights at the flavour unit: beverage ingredients showed a strong performance as a result of new wins in Japan and South Asia.
China is spurring growth in Asia Pacific, a region slated to advance at about 7.3 per cent, year on year, until 2008. This compares to western Europe and the US with 3.7 and 3.3 per cent growth respectively.
Such escalating demand should help global flavour firms such as Givaudan tackle ongoing price squeezes that continue to slice into their margins.
Sales in Europe, Africa and the Middle East declined slightly versus last year. Further, a strong sales performance in Eastern Europe and Middle East, supported by new creation and application centres in Vienna and Dubai, "could not fully compensate the impact of lowervanilla prices and lower consumer consumption in Western Europe."
Reflecting the same story for global food firms, China has brought solid growth for Givaudan, with the firm reporting "a good sales performance driven by double-digit growth"from this emerging market.
Looking to build on gains over there, the firm said the construction of a new flavour creation, application and production centre in Shanghai "is progressing well and will become operational in the second quarter of 2006."
On the flip side, sales in North America remained slightly below levels of last year. The firm claims strong growth from beverage and confectionery sector helped stem the sales decline across the Atlantic.
"On a year-to-date basis, lower prices for vanilla and citrus still impacted the sales in beverages and dairy,"said Givaudan.
The firm added that it "remains confident of achieving another good result in 2005."
