Third quarter revenues increased by 4% to CHF1.51 billion, which represented an increase of 8% in local currencies, underlining the weakness of the Swiss franc.
EBITDA rose 8% in local currencies to reach CHF211m, compared to a figure of CHF 203m in the corresponding period last year.
Lower volumes hit the care chemicals business
The care chemicals business, which mainly suppliers the cosmetics and personal care sector, reported sales were down 4% to CHF 343m, which in turn represented a fall of 1% in local currencies.
The company said that the decrease was almost entirely due to a reduction of the exposure to lower margin products, explaining that without the impact of this, underlying sales growth was approximately 5% in local currencies.
Breaking the revenues down for the care chemicals division, the company said that personal care sales contributed to high single-digit growth, whereas the smaller crop solutions business was driven by double digit growth.
The results were mainly driven by Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and Africa, where the company said that sales growth was ‘robust’.
Weakness seen in Europe
However, the effect of the lower margin products was almost exclusively seen in Europe, where the company said that sales were substantially lower due to this effect.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects that the personal care business will continue to see solid sales growth, which is expected to be driven by its EcoTain initiative.
EcoTain was launched in August of this year, and has given 25 cosmetic ingredients in six categories the company’s pledge that they have been developed according to strict sustainability principles.