DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - The consumer goods group Henkel wants to go one better in 2024 thanks to the upturn in business in its consumer division. The latest acquisitions are paying off earlier than expected. "The very good start to the year and today's increase in the annual forecast clearly show that we are on the right track with our growth agenda," said CEO Carsten Knobel in a statement on Friday. This pleased Henkel shareholders: the share price rose by around eight percent.

This means that the share has gained around ten percent in value since the turn of the year. However, anyone who has held Henkel shares for three years is looking at a fall of almost a fifth.

As the DAX-listed company also announced in Düsseldorf, total sales are likely to increase organically by 2.5 to 4.5 percent compared to the previous year. At both ends of the range, this corresponds to half a percentage point more than previously. Henkel's organic growth excludes effects such as acquisitions, changes in exchange rates, business in Russia and hyperinflation in Turkey.

At 13.0 to 14.0 percent, profitability is now also expected to be somewhat higher than previously (12.0 to 13.5 percent). Earnings per share (EPS) adjusted for special effects are expected to increase by 15 to 25 percent at constant exchange rates. Previously, CEO Knobel wanted 5 to 20 percent more.

RBC analyst James Edwardes Jones was surprised that the company behind brands such as Persil, Pril and Pattex raised both its sales and margin forecasts. This is unusual, he said, as only the sales trend is announced for the first quarter. "Profitability is obviously recovering quite a bit," he wrote in an initial reaction.

Henkel is benefiting from several aspects. On the one hand, the acquisition of the US provider of protective coatings and sealing solutions Seal For Life Industries and the purchase of the hair care brand Vidal Sassoon in China should no longer have a slightly negative impact on nominal sales growth. Both acquisitions were completed earlier than expected, it was reported. When translating the proceeds into a foreign currency, the negative effect was less than previously assumed.

Henkel announced the acquisition of Vidal Sassoon at the beginning of February. By taking over the brand and the associated hair care business in China from Procter & Gamble, the Group intends to expand its position in the People's Republic. Henkel CEO Knobel is building on the strengthening of well-known brands, especially as the hair business has recently developed "very well" according to the company.

When presenting the figures for the past year, Knobel had already spoken of two strong first months. On Thursday, the company reported that sales in the Consumer division had increased by 5.2 percent in the first quarter. The decline in volume is likely to have weakened further after retailers had resisted price increases last year, leading to supply disruptions. In some cases, customers were temporarily unable to find their familiar brands and products on the shelves.

According to preliminary findings, consolidated net income for the first quarter fell from 5.6 billion euros in the previous year to around 5.3 billion euros. Organic sales increased by 3.0 percent. In terms of overall earnings, Henkel thus performed slightly worse than analysts had expected on average, while organic growth was better.

Henkel will announce further details next Wednesday./ngu/men/mis