Henkel Shares Fall After Guiding Outlook to Lower End of Expectations -- Update

By Ed Frankl

Shares in Henkel AG & Co. KGaA fell sharply on Monday after it issued a more downbeat outlook for the full year on continued raw-material and supply-chain woes.

At 0926 GMT shares were down 5.1% at EUR76.66.

At its third-quarter earnings release, the German consumer-goods company confirmed its 2021 outlook for organic growth at 6%-8%, but said its full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes margin and adjusted earnings per share would be at the lower end of its previously guided ranges, due to additional negative impacts from increased raw-material and transport costs.

"The effects of the global [coronavirus] crisis, the extremely tense situation on raw-material markets and disruptions in global supply chains continued to have a strong impact on our market environment in the third quarter," Henkel Chief Executive Carsten Knobel said.

Henkel said its full-year adjusted EBIT margin is now expected at 13.5%, from 13.5% to 14.5% previously, with an adjusted EPS increase in the high single-digit percentage range, from high single-digit to mid-teens percentage range beforehand.

The new EPS guide implies 5%-6% consensus EPS downgrades at constant currencies, analysts at Jefferies said.

The Dusseldorf-based company also said third-quarter sales rose 1.9% year-on-year to 5.09 billion euros ($5.89 billion) and were up 3.5% on an organic basis.

Sales matched expectations and topped views of 2.6% in organic sales growth, according to analysts' estimates provided by the company.

The beat was driven by Henkel's adhesive technologies segment, it said, which grew 7.1%, where three of its four businesses posted strong growth, with only the automotive and metals business falling short as the global shortage of semiconductors hit auto production.

The company said demand in the consumer businesses continued to normalize, and that there was a continuing recovery in its industrial-production business.

Meanwhile at Henkel's beauty care segment, sales fell 6.5%, while in laundry and home care sales dipped 0.8%, the company said.

Write to Ed Frankl at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2021 04:50 ET (09:50 GMT)

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