Symrise with successful Q1

Symrise AG started successfully into the fiscal year 2017. The Group seamlessly continued its performance from the previous year and again significantly increased sales and earnings in the first three months. Contributing to this development was strong demand in all segments. In the first quarter, Symrise increased its sales by 4.6 % to € 765.2 million (Q1 2016: € 731.8 million). Adjusted for portfolio and exchange rate effects, the Group achieved organic growth of 5.3 %. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up by 4.4 % to € 165.5 million (Q1 2016 EBITDAN: € 158.5 million). With an EBITDA margin of 21.6 %, Symrise continued to operate highly profitable (Q1 2016 EBITDAN margin: 21.7 %). The Flavor segment, which includes aroma applications, generated sales of € 270.2 million (Q1 2016: € 250.2 million). This represents an increase of 8.0 % as compared to the prior-year quarter. Organic growth stood at 8.8 %. All application areas achieved significant sales increases in the first quarter. After a good start to the year, Symrise is confirming its growth and profitability targets for the current fiscal year. The Group remains confident that it will continue to achieve growth on a sustainable basis in 2017, and aims to substantially outperform the relevant market – which is projected to grow at a rate of about 3 %. The various investment projects to increase capacity in Holzminden as well as internationally, especially in growth markets, will continue to facilitate organic growth. Moreover, Symrise aims to be highly profitable, with an EBITDA margin of approximately 20 %. The medium-term targets through to the end of the 2020 fiscal year remain in effect, including a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5-7 % and an EBITDA margin of 19-22 %.