Henkel said its second-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 5.5%, missing analyst expectations, as foreign exchange rates and acquisitions in the laundry and home care segment hurt earnings and year-earlier gains from the disposal of assets were not repeated.
EBIT fell to 339 million euros from 359 million euros in the previous year, while analysts polled by Thomson Financial News had an average EBIT forecast of 350 million euros.
Second-quarter sales at the maker of household and cosmetic brands such as Ariel and Schwarzkopf rose to 3.293 billion euros from 3.230 billion euros in the same period of the previous year, the company said in a statement.
However, in the laundry and home care segment, which accounts for about a third of total revenue, sales declined 0.3% to 1.024 billion euros.
Net profit fell to 234 million euros from 243 million euros in the year-earlier period.
Henkel hiked its full-year organic sales growth guidance to 4%-5% from 3%-4%.
"We also continue to expect an increase in operating profit - adjusted for foreign exchange - in excess of organic growth," said chief executive Ulrich Lehner in the statement, without quantifying the guidance.