Givaudan’s quarterly sales beat expectations By Reuters

(Reuters) -Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan on Thursday reported quarterly like-for-like sales above expectations, saying it started the year with good business momentum while maintaining operations and global supply chain at a high level.

Its first-quarter revenue rose 3.6% to 1.84 billion Swiss francs ($1.97 billion) on a like-for-like basis, compared with analysts’ average forecast of 1.80 billion francs in a poll compiled by the company.

The sales growth was below Givaudan’s mid-term target of between 4% and 5% on average, which it also confirmed in the press release.

On a reported basis, its sales fell 0.4% to 1.77 billion Swiss francs.

The group, which so far has successfully passed steep input cost increases on to customers, has been suffering from weaker volumes driven by destocking and lower demand, particularly in its North American business.

Givaudan reported a 9.5% drop in like-for-like sales in North America, the only region to record a decline in the quarter.

($1 = 0.8966 Swiss francs)