Henkel Sees Lower Earnings for Fiscal 2020

   By Pietro Lombardi 
 

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (HEN.XE) expects lower earnings for fiscal 2020 as investment in advertising and IT weigh on results, an outlook that the company says is below market expectations.

The maker of Dial soap and Purex laundry detergent said Thursday that it expects adjusted earnings per preferred share in 2020 to fall by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage at constant exchange rates when compared with the roughly 5.45 euros ($6.05) it forecast for fiscal 2019.

Adjusted EBIT margin is seen at about 15%, compared with an expected margin of 16.2% in 2019.

"In view of an uncertain industrial environment and investments in marketing and advertising as well as digitalization and IT expected to increase versus 2019 in order to sustainably strengthen the business in the long-term, Henkel expects earnings to be negatively impacted in the fiscal year 2020," it said.

The company expects organic sales growth of 0% to 2% in 2020.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2019 12:44 ET (17:44 GMT)

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