Givaudan's third-quarter organic sales growth came in at almost twice the level analysts had expected, as demand for luxury perfumes lifted its fragrance business.
Like-for-like sales rose 8.6% in the quarter, against analyst expectations of 4.7%. The fragrance and flavour group's figures were propelled by a surge in sales of scents for fine fragrances.
Fragrance & Beauty leads growth
In the first nine months, Fragrance & Beauty generated CHF 3.15 billion (US$3.78 billion), up 8.8% like-for-like and ahead of the 8% growth recorded in the same period a year earlier. The division accounted for roughly 53% of the company's overall sales in that period.
In the third quarter, Fragrance & Beauty posted sales of CHF 1.14 billion (US$1.37 billion), with like-for-like growth of 13.5%, up from 6.8% in the third quarter of 2025.
At group level, Givaudan recorded sales of CHF 5.89 billion (US$7.08 billion) in the first three quarters.
Fine Fragrance and Consumer Products
Fine Fragrance sales rose 15.3% like-for-like, against a competitive prior-year comparable of 18.7%. The company said the back-to-back double-digit growth points to continued resilience in its fine-fragrance business and strong demand across the premium perfume market.
Consumer Products sales increased 9.3% like-for-like, compared with a prior-year comparable of 5.9%, suggesting that fragrance demand extends beyond fine perfumery into personal, oral, home and fabric care.
By contrast, Fragrance Ingredients and Active Beauty posted a combined sales decrease of 2.5%, against an increase of 1.5% like-for-like in the first nine months of 2025.
Acquisitions, currency and analyst reaction
Like-for-like figures exclude acquisitions. On a reported basis, acquisitions contributed 2.8% to Fragrance & Beauty growth during the nine-month period, while currency translation had a negative impact of 3.8%. At group level, acquisitions contributed 1.4%.
Givaudan highlighted two transactions: the acquisitions of Belle Aire Creations for CHF 62 million (US$74.48 million) and Vollmens Fragrances for CHF 20 million (US$24 million).
Vontobel analyst Arben Hasanaj said the acceleration should reinforce confidence in Givaudan's growth profile and resilience, Reuters reported. Analysts at Vontobel and Jefferies estimated that Fine Fragrance sales grew around 31% organically in the third quarter alone.
The report lifted the company's shares by nearly 7%, hitting a 15-month high. Peers including dsm-firmenich, Novonesis and Symrise rose between 1.6% and 3.1% in early trading, Reuters reported.
Regional picture
- Asia Pacific: the fastest-growing geography, with sales up 10.6% like-for-like in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 4.6% a year earlier. Within Taste & Wellbeing, the region rose 7.1% like-for-like, against a 0.5% decrease in the same period of 2025.
- South Asia, Africa and the Middle East: sales up 4.1% like-for-like, against a comparable 8.8% in the first nine months of 2025.
- Europe: up 1.5% like-for-like, versus 3.8% in the prior-year period.
- Latin America: up 1.1% like-for-like, versus 3.1% in the first nine months of 2025.
High-growth markets rose 7.9%, compared with 2.7% growth in mature markets. North America was the most challenging region, with a 3.3% like-for-like sales decrease in Taste & Wellbeing, compared with 3.9% in the first nine months of 2025, although the region overall grew 1.1%. Givaudan did not separate the region's financial figures by category.
The company attributed the drop primarily to continued weakness in its Health and Functional business unit and to US tariff refunds made to Givaudan customers during the third quarter of 2026.
Givaudan said the figures demonstrate continued appetite for fragrances among both consumers and brands, pointing to potential in fine fragrances, fragrance ingredient differentiation and premiumisation. It underlined the consistency of its growth despite geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility, describing it as evidence of market resilience.