Strong organic growth for Henkel in first half of 2026

HENKEL, with Irish offices in Whitestown, delivered strong organic sales growth and very good earnings performance in the first half of 2026, despite what the company described as a highly challenging economic environment.

German multinational chemical and consumer goods company noted several sectors’ good fortunes in the first half of the year, including adhesive technologies, consumer brands and laundry care.

The adhesive technologies business unit achieved very strong organic sales growth of 4.5 percent, with operations in Whitestown Industrial Estate in Tallaght among those contributing to this.

Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel noted that the improvement in sales in this division was down to “consistent and swift execution” of pricing initiatives that helped to offset raw material price headwinds.

The company’s CEO said: “In Adhesive Technologies, the improvement in sales and earnings was also supported by the consistent and swift execution of pricing initiatives to offset raw material price headwinds…

“…Based on our strong performance in the first half of the year, we have upgraded our top-line expectations for both the Group and the Adhesive Technologies business unit.

“At Group level, we now expect organic sales growth of between 1.5 and 3.5 percent, compared to our previous guidance of 1 to 3 percent.

“For Adhesive Technologies, we have increased our expectations for organic sales growth from 1 to 3 percent to now 2 to 4 percent.

“Thus, we continue to see Henkel well on track to deliver sustainable and profitable growth.”

Sales in the adhesive technologies business unit increased by 2.2 percent nominally to 5,534 million euros in the first half of 2026.

Henkel is investing a total of 5 billion euros and expanding its business by combined annual sales of approximately 1.6 billion euros through five acquisitions.

To date, the company has successfully completed four of the five transactions: Wetherby Laroc and ATP Adhesive Systems in adhesive technologies, as well as Not Your Mother’s and, most recently, OLAPLEX in consumer brands.

The acquisition of the Stahl Group in the adhesives business is expected to be closed during the second half of fiscal year 2026.

Despite success in this half, the Europe region recorded a negative organic sales development of -1.5 percent.