Henkel 2021 Profit Rose Despite Raw-Material, Logistics Costs

   By Ed Frankl 
 

Henkel AG said 2021 profit rose as it saw organic growth across its business units, despite a challenging market beset by inflationary pressures.

The German consumer-goods company posted net profit of 1.63 billion euros ($1.85 billion), up from EUR1.41 billion in 2020.

Henkel had already prereleased revenue figures in January, with sales of EUR20.07 billion for the full year and EUR5.05 billion for the fourth quarter, both above 2020's numbers.

The company flagged that the impact of significantly increasing raw-material and logistics prices, as well as currency effects, weighed on profitability in 2021.

"Thanks to significantly higher sales volumes, successful price increases, active cost management and ongoing structural adjustments, Henkel was able to more than offset the impact on its earnings," it said.

Free cash flow fell to EUR1.48 billion from EUR2.34 billion a year earlier, the Dusseldorf-based company said.

Henkel said it has started the integration process to combine its laundry and beauty-care segments into one consumer business with around EUR10 billion in sales.

The company kept its 2022 outlook unchanged.

Write to Ed Frankl at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2022 02:16 ET (07:16 GMT)

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