Givaudan's like-for-like sales rose 8.6% in the third quarter, almost double the 4.7% analysts had expected, as a surge in demand for luxury perfume scents lifted the flavors and fragrance group. The company said results accelerated as the nine-month period closed, and the update sent its shares up nearly 7% to a 15-month high.
Across the first nine months of 2026, Givaudan recorded group sales of CHF 5.89 billion (US$7.08 billion). Its Fragrance & Beauty division generated CHF 3.15 billion (US$3.78 billion), up 8.8% like-for-like and ahead of the 8% growth booked a year earlier, accounting for roughly 53% of total sales. In the third quarter alone, Fragrance & Beauty sales reached CHF 1.14 billion (US$1.37 billion), a 13.5% LFL increase, up from 6.8% growth in Q3 2025.
Fine fragrance leads, ingredients lag
Within Fragrance & Beauty, Fine Fragrance sales grew 15.3% LFL against a competitive prior-year comparable of 18.7%. Givaudan said the back-to-back double-digit gains pointed to continued resilience and strong demand across the premium perfume market. Consumer Products rose 9.3% LFL, compared with 5.9% a year earlier, extending fragrance demand into personal, oral, home and fabric care. Fragrance Ingredients and Active Beauty moved in the opposite direction, with combined sales down 2.5% LFL, against a 1.5% increase in the first nine months of 2025.
Acquisitions and currency effects
Givaudan's LFL figures exclude acquisitions. On a reported basis, acquisitions contributed 2.8% to Fragrance & Beauty growth over the nine-month period, while currency translation had a negative impact of 3.8%; at group level, acquisitions added 1.4%. The company highlighted two deals: Belle Aire Creations for CHF 62 million (US$74.48 million) and Vollmens Fragrances for CHF 20 million (US$24 million).
Regional split
Asia Pacific was the group's fastest-growing geography, with sales up 10.6% LFL in the first nine months of 2026, against 4.6% a year earlier; within Taste & Wellbeing the region rose 7.1% LFL, compared with a 0.5% decline in the same period of 2025. South Asia, Africa and the Middle East grew 4.1% LFL, versus 8.8% a year earlier; Europe was up 1.5% LFL against 3.8%; and Latin America rose 1.1% LFL from 3.1%. High-growth markets advanced 7.9%, against a more modest 2.7% in mature markets.
North America proved the most challenging region: Taste & Wellbeing sales fell 3.3% LFL, compared with growth of 3.9% in the first nine months of 2025, though the region overall grew 1.1%. Givaudan did not break out the region's figures by category. It attributed the decline mainly to continued weakness in its Health and Functional business unit and to US tariff refunds paid to Givaudan customers during the third quarter of 2026.
Analyst and market reaction
Vontobel analyst Arben Hasanaj said the acceleration should reinforce confidence in Givaudan's growth profile and resilience, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that analysts at Vontobel and Jefferies estimated Fine Fragrance sales grew around 31% organically in Q3 alone. The results lifted peers as well, with shares in dsm-firmenich, Novonesis and Symrise rising between 1.6% and 3.1% in early trading.
Givaudan said the consistency of its growth despite geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility demonstrated market resilience, and that the figures pointed to continued opportunities in fine fragrances, fragrance ingredient differentiation and premiumization.