Henkel has seen its third quarter net profits fall by a dramatic 58% despite an average organic sales growth of 3.5% across all its businesses.
The fall is attributed in part to the restructuring charges which totalled €181m compared with €9m in the same quarter last year, combined with 'weaker development in mature markets'.

Net profits fell from €238m to €101m, a weaker performance than the City had predicted. And the price of raw materials, particularly in Henkel's adhesives and laundry/homecare businesses undoubtedly had an impact on margin.

However, the adhesives business saw an organic sales growth of 3.6%, while laundry and homecare also performed in line with the company average with organic growth of 3.4%.

Unsurprisingly the company outlook is cautious, and Henkel expects further slowdown in the market. However, the company says, "we see opportunities arising from the still generally favourable conditions prevailing in the growth regions."