Givaudan SA reported earnings results for the full year of 2013. Group sales reached close to CHF 4.4 billion, the group sales grew at 5.5%, which is at the higher end of its guidance and in line with the average growth the company has achieved in the past 5 years. The group EBITDA increased by 9.1% to CHF 970 million.

The main drivers were the improved gross profit and the continued focus on internal costs. Overall, the EBITDA margin improved to 20.9% to 22.2% from 20.9% last year. The operating income increased by 10.7% to CHF 693 million.

The main drivers were the strong EBITDA and the stable amortization charge. The net income before tax was CHF 580 million versus CHF 514 million in 2012, mainly driven by the operating performance with an improved EBITDA and, also shown on the previous slide, the stable financial expenses. As a result, the net income is CHF 490 million, or 11.2% of sales, which is an increase of 19.5% versus last year.

Basic earnings per share of CHF 53.43 versus CHF 45.04 last year. The operating cash flow continued to improve significantly in 2013. The company delivered an operating cash flow of CHF 888 million, which is 14% above the 2012 level.

The free cash flow increased by 30% and reached CHF 662 million. With this, the free cash flow a level of 15.2% of sales, demonstrating that in line with its midterm target. The significant improvement was mainly driven by the following factors.

The higher operational performance with a 9% EBITDA improvement, lower non-operating expenses and as a percentage of sales, working capital decreased from 25.8% to 22.5% in 2013, as inventory levels increased at a slower pace than sales.