Henkel sales rise 8.9% in H1

Henkel, owner of Schwarzkopf, has released its financial results for the first half of 2022, revealing a 8.9% increase in organic sales to £9.2 billion (€10.9 billion).

This increase in sales was driven by all business units and regions, but impacted by a rise in material and logistics prices.

Henkel's Beauty Care business segment recorded organic sales growth of 0.4% in the first half of the year, while its Hair Salon business achieved double-digit organic sales growth.

Adjusted operating profit totalled €1,166 million, compared to €1,430 million in the prior-year period. This decline was mainly due to significantly higher prices for direct materials.

Looking ahead, Henkel now expects organic FY22 sales growth between 4.5% to 6.5%, with sales growth in its Beauty Care category between -3% to -1%, previously -5% to -3%.

Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel, said: “In a very challenging environment, sales performance in the first six months exceeded the previous expectations for the full year, while earnings developed in line with our Group guidance for fiscal 2022. In view of this development, we have raised our full-year guidance for organic sales growth for the Group and confirmed our guidance for the EBIT margin and earnings per preferred share.

The financial update comes after Henkel announced the extension of its partnership with DHL Supply Chain. The decision sees the beauty company move its retail operations to a new "state-of-the-art" facility at Manton Wood in Nottinghamshire.