The escalating euro continues to harm business, the chief financial officer of Royal DSM told CNBC on Friday, a day after the single currency took a beating on comments from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.
The euro has been on a broad upward trend since mid-2012, gaining almost 15 percent against the greenback. However, it tumbled over 1 percent from a 2-1/2 year high on Thursday after Draghi said its appreciation was a "cause for serious concern." He suggested the central bank could ease monetary policy further after its policy meeting next month.
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Rolf-Dieter Schwalb, the CFO of life and material sciences company DSM, told CNBC that first-quarter earnings had been hit by adverse exchange rates.
"You feel it is just hurting," he said on Friday. "This is the single one thing that is creating some issues."
This week, DSM reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in-line with expectations of 272 million euros ($376 million), compared to 301 million euros in the same quarter in 2013.
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Schwalb said DSM was sensitive to fluctuation in the single currency because it still produced a lot in Europe, but sold elsewhere. The company estimated that currency effects will knock 70 million euros off EBITDA in 2014.
He acknowledged that the improvement in the euro zone economy was helping the NYSE Euronext-listed company, but not enough to outweigh the currency hit.
"We are seeing it a little bit, but it is not compensating," he said.
Read MoreRolf-Dieter Schwalb biography
Schwalb was appointed CFO at DSM in 2006, following a long career at Procter & Gamble. He will be succeeded by Geraldine Matchett, currently CFO of Switzerland's SGS Group, at the end of this year.
