Flavours and fragrances company Symrise has announced that it continued its dynamic profitable growth course in 2013 and achieved new all-time highs in sales and earnings during its tenth anniversary year. The group grew sales by 6 % to €1,830 million (2012: €1,735 million). In local currency, this corresponds to an increase of 10 %.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose by 10 % to €373 million (2012: €339 million). With an EBITDA margin of 20.4 % (2012: 19.5 %), Symrise managed to further increase its profitability this past fiscal year.
“In the 2013 fiscal year, Symrise again clearly outperformed the global market for flavours and fragrances,” said Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise. “We achieved new records in sales and earnings despite a very volatile economic climate. We particularly benefited from our expanded menthol activities and from high demand for flavuors used in sweet and savory applications. Our expanded fragrance activities in the USA also made a significant contribution. Ten years after its founding, Symrise holds a leading position in all of its market segments. This is the result of our focused expansions, the diversification of our customer base and our innovative portfolio. Symrise is thus well-positioned to maintain its excellent growth and earnings trajectory as it opens the next chapter of its corporate development.”
Flavor & Nutrition increased sales by 2 % to €870 million in 2013 (2012: €852 million). Adjusted for exchange rate effects, this growth amounted to 6 %. Every application area contributed to this growth, with sweet and savoury products making the strongest contributions, as well as the Consumer Health application area.
Latin America recorded the strongest sales increase for the division with sales up by 15 % in local currency. The region benefited from strong growth in all flavour application areas. The second-strongest region was Asia/Pacific, which posted 7 % sales growth at local currency. Here, Flavor & Nutrition expanded its business, especially with savoury products as well as in the Consumer Health area. In North America, the division increased sales by 6 % and benefited from considerable new business with selected customers. In the EAME region, Flavor & Nutrition posted even stronger growth than in the previous year, up 5 % at local currency. This was mainly driven by higher demand from Eastern Europe, Africa and the Gulf region. The mixing plant that opened in Holzminden this past June also provided further capacities and contributed to the result.
Flavor & Nutrition generated an EBITDA of €178.6 million (2012: €177.8 million). The EBITDA margin was 20.5 % (2012: 20.9 %) despite large investments into new capacities and sales units.
Symrise said that it has entered fiscal year 2014 with positive economic expectations. The group expects to grow in both divisions and to benefit from solid consumer demand. Although dynamics in some emerging markets have recently decreased to some extent, Symrise remains confident in its ability to also expand business in those markets in 2014. In addition, Symrise again anticipates solid results from the established markets. Accordingly, Symrise is expecting to grow as a group and in both divisions faster than the international market for flavours and fragrances, which is projected to grow by between 2 to 3 %.
