FRANKFURT--Henkel & Co. KGaA said fourth-quarter net profit
fell slightly, hurt by extraordinary costs related to its
restructuring.
The German manufacturing company said net profit in the three
months to end-December fell to 298 million euros ($333.67 million)
from EUR320 million for the same period a year ago. The fall was
caused by one-time costs and restructuring charges, and adjusted
operating profit, also called earnings before interest and taxes,
or Ebit, rose 3.1%. Henkel met its financial targets for 2014.
Sales rose 7.1% to EUR4.1 billion helped by a strong performance
at all its three business units and although the weak Russian ruble
knocked the shine off Henkel's earnings in Eastern Europe, its
sales in the region increased by 4.5% when adjusted for currency
fluctuations. Stripping out exchange-rate fluctuations,
fourth-quarter sales rose 3.9%.
"The emerging markets were once again the main growth drivers
for Henkel," said Chief Executive Kasper Rørsted.
For the full year 2014, net profit reached EUR1.62 billion, up
from EUR1.58 million in 2013, on a currency-neutral 4.4% rise in
sales to EUR16.4 billion.
-Write to Ellen Emmerentze Jervell at ellen.jervell@wsj.com
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