Novonesis sales grow but company warns on margin (updated)
06/11/2025 07:50
Rewrites throughout, adds share reaction in paragraph 2, CEO comment in paragraph 5, analyst comment in paragraph 6, sector nutgraph in paragraph 7 Nov 6 (Reuters) - Danish biosolutions company Novonesis NSISb.CO on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected organic sales growth in the third quarter and said it expects growth in the mid-single-digits in October-December. The company's shares opened 6% higher. The company's organic sales grew 6% in the quarter to 1.06 billion euros ($1.24 billion), helped by sales growth in its human health division, which manufactures products like probiotics and prebiotics. That beat analysts' expectation of a 4.5% growth on a group level in a company-provided consensus. "Our aim is always to maximize growth, profitable growth, by being closer to our customers and by providing solutions that enable them to be more successful," the group's chief executive Ester Baiget told Reuters in an interview. JPMorgan says that Novonesis forecast for the fourth quarter is likely to be seen as reassuring, given softer growth indications seen elsewhere in the sector. European chemical companies are grappling with the impact of strong home currencies, eroding their reported profits. AkzoNobel trimmed its guidance, citing adverse currency translation effects despite solid underlying growth, while dsm-firmenich DSFIR.AS lowered its 2025 adjusted core profit guidance on negative foreign exchange effects and volatility in vitamin prices. Novonesis reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin of 37.1% for the quarter, broadly in line with expectations, but added that for the full year it now sees the margin in the lower end of the 37-38% range, amid significant currency movements. Its full-year organic sales growth guidance was narrowed upwards to 7-8% from 6-8%. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Izabela Niemiec and Elviira Luoma in Gdansk, editing by Matt Scuffham) ((izabela.niemiec@thomsonreuters.com, elviira.luoma@thomsonreuters.com))