Henkel reported an 11% year-on-year increase in sales to €5.71 billion in the third quarter of 2026, with organic sales growth of 6.5%. Growth was supported by positive price and volume developments across both its Adhesive Technologies and Consumer Brands business units.
The German chemicals and consumer goods company attributed the increase in reported sales partly to acquisitions, which contributed 4.4 percentage points to growth. Foreign exchange movements had a neutral impact during the quarter. Organic growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions and currency movements, was driven by a 5.4% increase in prices and a 1.1% rise in volumes.
Henkel's performance comes amid a challenging market environment, with higher raw material costs emerging as a factor in its earnings outlook. The company has revised its full-year sales guidance upwards while narrowing its adjusted operating margin expectations.
For the first nine months of 2026, Henkel reported sales of €16.06 billion, up 3.3% year-on-year. Organic sales growth stood at 4.3%, supported by increases in both price and volume.
Adhesive Technologies growth supported by automotive and electronics businesses
Henkel's Adhesive Technologies division recorded sales of €3.03 billion in Q3 2026, an 11.8% year-on-year increase. Organic sales grew 7.9%, primarily driven by pricing, which contributed 7.2 percentage points, while volumes increased by 0.7%.
The Mobility & Electronics business area recorded 12.1% organic sales growth, with both its Electronics and Industrial businesses registering double-digit growth. Sales in the Automotive business also developed strongly despite subdued market conditions.
The Packaging & Consumer Goods business area reported 9.8% organic growth, while Craftsmen, Construction & Professional recorded a more moderate increase of 2.1%.
For the January-September period, Adhesive Technologies generated sales of €8.56 billion, representing 5.4% nominal growth and 5.7% organic growth.
Consumer Brands growth supported by acquisitions and hair care
Henkel's Consumer Brands division reported Q3 sales of €2.64 billion, up 10.1% year-on-year. Organic growth stood at 4.8%, supported by positive price and volume developments.
Acquisitions contributed 6.4 percentage points to the division's reported sales growth, particularly following the addition of OLAPLEX and Not Your Mother's to its portfolio. Foreign exchange movements had a negative impact of 1.2 percentage points.
Within the division, Laundry & Home Care recorded 6% organic sales growth, while the Hair business area grew 4%. The Other Consumer Businesses segment registered a 1.2% decline, primarily due to weaker Body Care sales in Europe.
For the first nine months of 2026, Consumer Brands sales increased 0.9% to €7.38 billion, with organic growth of 2.8%.
Henkel raises FY2026 sales guidance but narrows margin outlook
Following its Q3 performance, Henkel revised its full-year 2026 organic sales growth forecast to 3-4%, compared with its earlier range of 1.5-3.5%.
The company now expects Adhesive Technologies to deliver organic sales growth of 4.5-5.5%, against its previous forecast of 2-4%. Consumer Brands is expected to grow by 1.5-2.5%, compared with the earlier range of 0.5-2.5%.
However, Henkel narrowed its adjusted return on sales (adjusted EBIT margin) guidance to around 15%, from the previous range of 14.5-16%. The revised margin outlook reflects an expected increase in raw material costs, particularly within Adhesive Technologies.
Henkel now expects direct material prices to increase by around 10% in 2026 compared with the previous year's average, revising its earlier estimate of a high-single-digit percentage increase. The company also increased its expected restructuring expenses to €200-250 million, from the earlier estimate of €150-200 million.
Adjusted earnings per preferred share are now expected to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage at constant exchange rates, compared with the previous guidance of a low-to-high single-digit percentage increase.
Acquisitions expand Henkel's portfolio
Henkel confirmed that all five acquisitions announced during 2026 have been completed. The acquisitions expand its Adhesive Technologies portfolio into adjacent businesses, including high-performance water-based specialty tapes and specialty coatings for flexible materials.
In Consumer Brands, the acquisitions strengthen its Hair business across the consumer and professional segments.
The acquired businesses collectively represent approximately €1.6 billion in sales. Henkel expects them to achieve mid-to-high single-digit annual growth over the coming years and reach approximately €2 billion in annual sales by 2030.
The company also expects capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets to amount to €650-750 million in 2026.