Henkel disappoints with weak Q4 growth, 2025 guidance

(Sharecast News) - Chemical and consumer goods giant Henkel dropped 10% on Tuesday despite the announcement of a new share buyback, as fourth-quarter results and guidance from the German conglomerate disappointed. The company, which owns household brands like Persil and Schwarzkopf as well as an Adhesive Technologies business, reported revenues of €5.28bn for the three months to 31 December, up just 1.1% on last year.

This pushed full-year sales to €21.59bn, up 2.6% on 2023.

However, analysts were looking for fourth-quarter growth of closer to 3.6%, with both sides of the business underwhelming.

Adhesive Technologies grew revenues by 1.7% to €2.70bn in the fourth quarter, while Consumer Brands sales rose 0.6% to €2.55bn, with both missing consensus forecasts by a wide margin.

Nevertheless, operating profit for the year totalled €3.1bn, up 20.9% on the year before, as the EBIT margin rose 240 basis points to 14.3% which the company labelled an "outstanding improvement".

Chief executive Carsten Knobel said 2024 was "once again marked by major challenges and many economic uncertainties" but said that the company achieved "good" underlying growth.

Looking ahead, the company pointed to underlying revenue growth of just 1.5-3.5% for 2025 as a whole, disappointing analysts which expected 3% growth at the midpoint of the consensus range.

Henkel also announced a €1bn share buyback alongside a 10.3% hike in its dividend to €2.04, but that wasn't enough to appease shareholders, with the stock down 9.8% at €70.20 by the end of play.