Givaudan’s third-quarter sales jump as fine fragrance demand beats forecasts

Givaudan’s third-quarter like-for-like sales rose 8.6%, nearly twice the pace analysts had expected, as a surge in fine fragrance lifted the Swiss scent-and-flavor supplier and sent its shares to the top of Europe’s STOXX 600 on Tuesday.

Fine fragrance carries the quarter

Givaudan said on Tuesday, Oct. 13, that sales in the three months through September rose 8.6% on a like-for-like basis to CHF 2.09 billion, nearly double the 4.7% company-compiled consensus that Reuters reported. Growth in Swiss francs was even stronger, at 11.3%, as the Swiss fragrance-and-flavor maker outpaced a year-earlier quarter that had itself declined 1.5% in franc terms.

The beat was concentrated in Fragrance & Beauty. That division’s like-for-like sales jumped 13.5% in the quarter, more than twice the average forecast analysts had used, Reuters said, and rose 17.7% in Swiss francs to CHF 1.14 billion. Sell-side notes from Vontobel and Jefferies put fine-fragrance organic growth near 31% for the quarter, the wire reported — the main surprise behind the print.

Taste & Wellbeing, the flavors side that supplies food and drink companies, also cleared a softer bar. Like-for-like sales rose 3.5% to CHF 952 million against a 2.8% consensus, Reuters said, and were up 4.5% in francs. That sequential improvement is what chief executive Christian Stammkoetter had flagged as “in line with expectations” after a weaker stretch earlier in the year.

Nine months: volumes up, North America still soft

For the first nine months of 2026, Givaudan recorded sales of CHF 5.89 billion, up 5.2% like-for-like and 2.6% in Swiss francs from CHF 5.74 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by the Swiss news agency AWP had expected about CHF 5.78 billion for the period, Premium Beauty News reported, so the franc total also cleared that bar.

Fragrance & Beauty contributed CHF 3.15 billion of the nine-month total, up 8.8% like-for-like and 7.8% in francs. Inside that division, fine fragrance rose 15.3% like-for-like and consumer products 9.3%, while fragrance ingredients and active beauty fell 2.5%. Acquisitions added 2.8% to Fragrance & Beauty growth; currency translation cut 3.8%.

Taste & Wellbeing sales were CHF 2.74 billion, up only 1.5% like-for-like and down 2.8% in francs. Asia Pacific led with a 7.1% like-for-like gain after a decline a year earlier. South Asia, Africa and the Middle East rose 4.1%, Europe 1.5% and Latin America 1.1%. North America remained the soft spot, down 3.3% like-for-like, which Givaudan tied to weakness in its health and functional unit and to U.S. tariff refunds paid to customers in the third quarter.

High-growth markets as a group rose 7.9% like-for-like; mature markets rose 2.7%. The company said it has raised prices with customers to fully offset higher input costs in 2026.

Why the print matters beyond Geneva

Givaudan is one of the largest suppliers of scents and flavors to consumer-goods companies, so a fine-fragrance surge is an early read on demand for luxury perfume and for the brands that buy those formulas. Shares were the top performer on Europe’s STOXX 600 on Tuesday, rising nearly 7%, Reuters reported; Givaudan’s own site showed the stock up about 8% to CHF 3,771 by mid-afternoon Zurich time.

Stammkoetter said the nine-month result showed “accelerating momentum,” with “sustained strong performance” in Fragrance & Beauty and “sequentially improving” Taste & Wellbeing despite geopolitical and macroeconomic pressure. Daniel Bürki of Zürcher Kantonalbank told Premium Beauty News the third-quarter acceleration, including in Taste & Wellbeing, matched what the market had hoped for, and that “the positive surprise came primarily from fine fragrance.” Vontobel analyst Arben Hasanaj said the acceleration should reinforce confidence in Givaudan’s growth profile, with estimates for 2026 likely to move up on the high-margin perfumery mix, according to Reuters.

The company reiterated its 2030 ambition of 4–6% average like-for-like sales growth and more than 12% average adjusted free cash flow over the five-year cycle. Full-year results are due Jan. 27, 2027.