Henkel Posts 6.5% Organic Growth in Q3, Raises 2026 Outlook
Key Facts
Henkel said on October 29 that preliminary sales reached 5,713 million euros in the third quarter of 2026, up 11.0% year on year in nominal terms and 6.5% organically. Organic growth exceeded the Vara consensus forecast of 4.1%, prompting the company to raise its full-year organic sales outlook. The company said growth covered all regions and both business units. At group level, prices rose 5.4% and volumes increased 1.1%. This followed organic growth of 1.4% in the third quarter of 2025, putting this year's result above the year-earlier period.
Adhesive Technologies was the larger of the two business units, reporting sales of 3,027 million euros and organic growth of 7.9%. Its growth was above Vara’s forecast of 5.5%. Pricing contributed an increase of 7.2%, while volumes rose 0.7%, making improved pricing the sector’s main growth driver during the quarter. The unit had recorded organic growth of 2.5% in the third quarter of 2025. The comparison reflects an acceleration in the sector’s annual growth rate, as well as a result above quarterly expectations.
Consumer Brands reported sales of 2,643 million euros, with organic growth of 4.8%, compared with Vara’s forecast of 2.5%. Prices rose 3.2%, while volumes increased 1.6%, showing a more balanced contribution from the two units to sales growth compared with the concentration of gains in pricing at the adhesives business. The unit’s organic growth was 0.4% in the third quarter of 2025. Its annual growth rate therefore increased while also exceeding estimates for the current quarter. Henkel said third-quarter growth extended across both business units, rather than being concentrated in one.
Henkel raised its organic sales growth range for the group in fiscal 2026 to 3.0–4.0%, from 1.5–3.5% previously. It also raised its outlook for the adhesives business to 4.5–5.5%, from 2.0–4.0%. For Consumer Brands, the range is now 1.5–2.5%, compared with 0.5–2.5% in the previous guidance. The revisions follow organic group growth of 1.7% in the first quarter and then 3.2% in the first half, when sales reached 10.3 billion euros. In its first-half statement, the company said the economic environment remained highly challenging and that organic growth came from both business units.
The outlook update also covered profitability. The company revised its adjusted return on sales forecast for the group to about 15%, from its previous range of 14.5–16.0%. It now also expects adjusted earnings per preferred share to grow in the mid-single digits at constant exchange rates, instead of a growth range from the low to high single digits. The higher sales growth range was therefore accompanied by a narrower adjusted return on sales forecast. In its update, Henkel gave a specific estimate for return on sales, while framing its earnings-per-share outlook on a constant-currency basis.
Henkel is scheduled to publish full details of its third-quarter and first-nine-month 2026 performance on November 10. The detailed release will follow the preliminary results announcement and annual guidance update on October 29. Until then, the reported figures include group and business-unit sales, as well as organic growth, pricing and volume rates. The new sales and profitability outlooks for the rest of the fiscal year are also included. The upcoming release will present the period’s results in the company’s detailed financial report.