A good start to the year for Givaudan

Last week Givaudan announced its sales for the first quarter of 2024. Sales rose by 2.8% to CHF 1,822 million. On closer examination, the increase is 12.6% on a comparable basis (excluding acquisitions and divestments, and at constant exchange rates). This figure is much more representative, as Givaudan is one of the few Swiss companies to have consistently shown positive growth (on a comparable basis) since its IPO in 2000. This clearly demonstrates the multinational’s ability to stand out from the economic cycle, despite the fact that the company is in a cyclical field (chemical industry). The CEO, Gilles Andrier, declared himself “satisfied with this very good start to 2024, driven by strong momentum in established activities and a high level of new contracts”.

For 2024 and 2025, the company continues to expect organic growth of between 4% and 5%, and free cash flow in excess of 12% of sales. The share price has risen by 12.4% since the beginning of the year, clearly outperforming the Swiss market index.