The consumer goods group Henkel increased its organic sales in the third quarter and is therefore raising its forecast again.

The manufacturer of Pritt and Persil now expects organic sales growth of 3.5 to 4.5 percent (previously: 2.5 to 4.5 percent) for the year as a whole, as announced on Thursday. Henkel also intends to operate more profitably than previously announced: Adjusted earnings per preferred share are now expected to increase by 15 to 25 percent for the full year. Henkel again benefited from price increases in the quarter. In addition, the Group's reorganization is progressing faster than planned.

In the third quarter, organic sales rose by 2.8 percent to around 5.4 billion euros, as Henkel further announced. Including the effects of the divestment of the Russian business, however, nominal sales fell by nine percent. Henkel had announced the sale of its activities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Organically - i.e. without this effect - Henkel was able to score particularly well with detergents and hair care products. "We successfully continued our growth course in the third quarter despite a persistently challenging economic environment," said Group CEO Carsten Knobel. Knobel had merged Henkel's struggling cosmetics business with the detergents division. He wants to make the Group more powerful with the new division - but also reduce costs. Of the net savings of around 250 million euros targeted in a first step by the end of 2024, more than 80 percent are now to be realized by the end of 2023, Henkel explained.

Price increases are driving sales throughout the consumer goods industry. Henkel rival Beiersdorf is also more optimistic about the year thanks to flourishing business with its core brand Nivea and expects low double-digit organic sales growth. The US giant Procter & Gamble was also able to push through higher prices for its products and is on course for growth.

(Report by Matthias Inverardi, edited by Hans Seidenstücker. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)