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Firmenich Reports Solid Full Year Results With Accelerating Momentum in the Second Half

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Firmenich International SA, the world’s largest privately-owned Perfume and Taste company, announces its Full Year Results for the 52 weeks ended 30 June 2021.

Financial Highlights

  • Revenue reached CHF 4,272 million, up 4.7% year-over-year on an organic basis at constant currency[i]. Including acquisitions, Revenue increased 16.8% year-over-year at constant currency. On a reported basis, Revenue increased 10.2% year-over-year
  • EBITDA[ii] of CHF 874 million, up +6.2% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange, EBITDA would have increased by +10.6%.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of CHF 816 million, down -5.0% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange, Adjusted EBITDA would have decreased by -1.1%. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 19.1%, down -3.0 percentage points compared to the previous year, due to the impact of acquisitions, negative foreign exchange, and the temporary effect of the pandemic on costs and mix
  • Free Cash Flow[iii] of CHF 511 million, up +12.5% year-over-year
  • EBITDA to Free Cash Flow conversion ratio of 59%

Operating Highlights

  • Demonstrated solid revenue growth across Perfumery & Ingredients and Taste & Beyond divisions, on an organic basis at constant currency, driven by a rebound in Fine Fragrance, strong customer demand in Ingredients, growth in Beverages supported by our Sugar Reduction solutions, and Dairy
  • Achieved double-digit revenue growth in key markets of North AmericaChina, and India, on an organic basis at constant currency
  • Further progress made integrating DRT. The pandemic has had an adverse impact on revenue and profit this year, resulting in us being behind our original business case assumptions for FY21. Significant revenue rebound in the second half of the year, as well as improving profitability
  • Strengthened leadership team with new senior appointments and upgraded organizations in Perfumery & Ingredients and Taste & Beyond
  • Accelerated development of innovative new products including launch of the world’s first Flavor and first Consumer Fragrance designed with the help of Artificial Intelligence
  • Strengthened responsible business leadership position with CDP AAA rating for the 3rd year running, and an industry-leading Sustainalytics ESG rating of 8.6
  • Announced ambitious ESG targets to reach carbon neutrality by 2025, and carbon positive impact beyond that date. By 2030, we will strive to achieve absolute carbon emission reduction in line with the 1.5°C Science-Based Targets

“Firmenich achieved solid performance in a challenging year, demonstrating the strength of our business. I am proud and thankful for the dedication and commitment of our people that delivered these results. Throughout the year, we have continued to invest to position ourselves for the future, and I believe we are well placed to capture the opportunities that will arise after the crisis,” said Patrick Firmenich, Chairman of the Board.

“I am proud of our achievements this year. We maintained a sharp focus on the health and safety of our employees. I am grateful for the dedication and energy that our people have demonstrated in this challenging time. We delivered strong revenue growth and cash generation across the business, with double-digit growth in the key geographies of North AmericaChina and India. We continued to make progress on the integration of our acquisitions and accelerated our innovation to help our customers win bigger in the post-pandemic world,” said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO of Firmenich.

FY2021 Performance

Revenue

Revenue reached CHF 4,272 million, up +10.2% year-over-year on a reported basis, and +4.7% on an organic basis at constant currency.

Perfumery & Ingredients Revenue increased +4.4%, on an organic basis at constant currency, driven by the rebound in Fine Fragrance and strong customer demand in Ingredients.

Taste & Beyond Revenue increased +5.2%, on an organic basis at constant currency, driven by growth in Beverages, supported by our Sugar Reduction solutions, and growth in Dairy.

In the second half of the year, we saw an acceleration in revenue growth, with continued momentum from our two Divisions, and a strong rebound in Fine Fragrance, which grew by +39%, on an organic basis at constant currency.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA reached CHF 816 million, down -5.0% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange, Adjusted EBITDA would have decreased by -1.1% compared to the previous year.

Adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of revenue was 19.1%, a decrease of -3.0 percentage points compared to the previous year. This was driven by the impact of acquisitions, negative foreign exchange impact as well as the temporary impact of the pandemic on costs and mix. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange, Adjusted EBITDA margin would have decreased by -1.2 percentage points.

Free Cash Flow

Free Cash Flow reached CHF 511 million, a +12.5% increase compared to the previous year. This underscores our prudent execution and disciplined working capital management during the crisis, in line with our commitment to retain a strong investment grade credit rating through solid cash generation. Free Cash Flow was favorably impacted by the cash effect of disposals (CHF 42 million) and settlement of legal claims (CHF 30 million).

Continued progress with DRT Integration

The transformational acquisition of DRT, a leader in naturally derived renewable ingredients, has enabled Firmenich to build the world’s leading innovation platform for renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable ingredients for Fragrances, Flavors and Nutrition. This in turn has allowed us to meet our customers’ growing demand for sustainable products, a key long-term growth driver for our industry. During the period, the pandemic continued to have an adverse impact on revenue and profit due to lower demand in the DRT industrial end markets and in Fine Fragrance, resulting in us being behind our original business case assumptions for FY21.  In the second half of the year, we have seen a significant revenue rebound, as well as improving profitability. We are confident in the strategic fit of this acquisition and in the long-term competitive advantage provided by our unique and proprietary access to renewable ingredients.

Leader in Responsible Business

Our responsible business model is a core part of our family heritage and is consistent with our values and company purpose. This year, we further strengthened our industry-leading sustainability credentials, announcing ambitious ESG goals for 2025 and clear measurable targets for 2030. We are taking an ambitious carbon emissions commitment: to reach carbon neutrality by 2025, and carbon positive impact beyond that date. By 2030, we will strive to achieve absolute carbon emission reduction in line with the 1.5°C Science-Based Targets. In a further demonstration of our responsible leadership, we are one of only two companies in the world to receive a triple “A” rating from CDP, in Climate, Water and Forests, for the third year in a row. We were also rated for the first time by Sustainalytics, with a score of 8.6, which not only places us as ESG leaders in our industry and the broader Chemicals sector, but also in the top 1% of companies rated worldwide. Additionally, in May we received the global EDGE MOVE™ certification, in recognition of our work and longstanding commitment for gender equality. This builds on our earlier EDGE certification, which we obtained for the first time in 2018.

Strengthening our Leadership Team

We have continued to strengthen our leadership team with new senior appointments and upgraded organizations in Perfumery & Ingredients and Taste & Beyond. This year saw internal promotions and external hires to key senior leadership positions, including a new Chief Financial Officer, a new Chief Procurement Officer, a new Chief Supply Chain Officer, and a new Chief Research Officer (effective 1 July 2021).

Disclosure

This information is provided by Firmenich International S.A. pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 and the Swiss FMIA. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact persons set out below, at 7:00 CEST on 6 August 2021. Further information is available for investors on http://investors.firmenich.com.

Wladimir P. is a Content Editor at European Gaming Media and at PICANTE Media and covers a large variety of industries.

Artificial Intelligence

CUBE acquires global regulatory intelligence businesses from Thomson Reuters

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LONDON, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — CUBE, a global leader in Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI) and Regulatory Change Management (RCM), announces today its acquisition of the Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden products and businesses.

The acquisition of these global businesses represents a major step forward in CUBE’s growth plans. It will deliver significant scale across many of the world’s leading and systemically important financial institutions. CUBE’s existing global customer base will be expanded to total approximately 1,000 customers in banking, insurance, asset and investment management, payments and adjacent regulated industries.
CUBE’s global employees will expand to 600, of which close to 250 are highly qualified regulatory subject matter experts, legal and compliance professionals.
Ben Richmond, founder and CEO of CUBE said: “Thomson Reuters is known to be the biggest and best in the industry for providing regulatory expert analysis and subject matter expertise, alongside world-leading journalism and news. The combination of CUBE’s purpose-built AI, with the years of content curated by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden expert analysts, will accelerate innovation. Together, we will deliver regulatory transformation capabilities for our global customers that could only have been imagined before.”
Richmond continues: “This combination will provide tremendous scale and depth across CUBE’s regulatory content and technology. It is a significant step toward creating an industry-defining regulatory compliance and risk platform that will benefit all customers and elevate the industry as a whole.”
Through this acquisition, CUBE will provide an expanded and comprehensive selection of specialized regulatory intelligence and regulatory change services, committed to excellence, quality, and highly contextualised and meaningful regulatory content for customers. By combining cutting-edge technology and subject matter expertise at scale CUBE will set a new bar for the industry in regulatory automation and content.
Chris Maguire, General Manager, Risk and Fraud, Corporates, Thomson Reuters said: “It was clear to us that CUBE had established itself as a leading regulatory intelligence provider for global enterprise clients in the financial services and insurance sectors. We wanted to ensure our customers and employees could work with an organisation that would continue to innovate and significantly invest in solutions like Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden. We are working tirelessly to ensure a seamless and value-enhancing transition for customers and employees, and we are looking forward to working with the CUBE team during this transition.” 
Christopher Fielding, Hg, said: “We’re delighted to further extend our market reach, bringing in two high quality and complementary global businesses to the CUBE platform.”
Thomas Martin, Hg, added: “We see these acquisitions as enabling further innovation in the regulatory intelligence and change management sector, leading to strengthened demand for these quality solutions across the globe.”
The terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.
About CUBE
CUBE provides a highly comprehensive and robust source of classified, and meaningful AI-driven regulatory data to power its Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI) and Regulatory Change Management (RCM) solutions. CUBE’s purpose-built regulatory technology including its AI engine (RegBrain) and software platform (RegPlatform) tracks, analyses, and monitors laws, rules, and regulations in every country and in every published language to create an always up-to-date regulatory footprint that transforms visibility and compliance capability for customers across the globe.
With operations across Europe, North America, Canada, Asia, and Australia, CUBE serves a diverse and global base of customers and partners including the largest financial institutions in the world who leverage CUBE’s platform to streamline their complex regulatory intelligence and change management processes.
Following the strategic partnership with Hg in March 2024, CUBE announced the acquisition of US-based Reg-Room in May 2024.
About Hg
Hg supports the building of sector-leading enterprises that supply businesses with critical software applications or workflow services, delivering a more automated workplace for their customers.
This industry is characterised by digitisation trends that are in early stages of adoption and are set to transform the workplace for professionals over decades to come. Hg’s support combines deep end-market knowledge with world class operational resources, together providing compelling support to entrepreneurial leaders looking to scale their business – businesses that are well invested, enduring and serve their customers well.
With a vast European network and strong presence across North America, Hg’s 400 employees and around $70 billion in funds under management support a portfolio of around 50 businesses, worth over $140 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 110,000 employees, consistently growing revenues at more than 20%.
About Regulatory Intelligence
Regulatory Intelligence is a proactive, connected, and comprehensive solution that tracks and analyses regulatory changes within ~2,000 regulatory bodies and rulebooks for more than 20 countries. It enables banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors to manage exposure to operational, regulatory, and compliance risk.
About Oden
Oden State Rules and Regulations (SR&R), Oden Policy Terminator/Sentry PT, and OdenTrack provide repositories and automated solutions for complying with state rules and regulations on the provisioning of Personal and Business Insurance in the US.

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Cayman Enterprise City Publishes Socio-Economic Impact Assessment by Economist and Leading Advisor on the Caribbean, Marla Dukharan

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The Impact of Cayman Enterprise City’s Socio-Economic Development Project Nears USD $1 Billion
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) has released a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment by Marla Dukharan. The report illustrates that CEC is increasing its impact by supporting higher earnings for Caymanians and is driving a shift towards a knowledge-based economy by focusing on high productivity sectors. The release by Dukharan reads, “Caymanian resourcefulness and private sector-led innovation have been the driving force behind the islands’ outstanding socio-economic success. Cayman Enterprise City underpins the next generation of Cayman innovation and dynamism.”

With an economic impact of USD $130 million in 2023, contributing just under USD $1 billion to the local economic activity in 12 years since inception, “CEC is helping the nation to diversify economically, in terms of sectors and jobs, ensuring locals have economic and employment opportunities that match the nation’s progress,” the report reads.
The CEC socio-economic development project is now home to 352 Special Economic Zones Companies (SEZCos), many of which are globally recognised institutions led by top executives and industry experts. “CEC member companies are providing high-value employment with salaries exceeding those typically found outside of the special economic zone,” said Charlie Kirkconnell, Chief Executive Officer at CEC. “The CEC community is fully invested in Cayman and the report illustrates that the CEC socio-economic development project is making a very significant impact on Cayman’s economy and community.”
“As CEC continues to grow, it continues to create significant employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for Caymanians and we encourage anyone that might be interested in finding out how they might get involved, whether as a member of the community and/or as a volunteer in our Enterprise Cayman non-profit organisation (NPO).”
77% of Caymanian-held jobs at CEC member companies, are in sectors with high social returns and increasing global demand. “By putting skills first and prioritizing learning, CEC is enabling new industries to take root,” the release by Dukharan reads.
CEC, through its Enterprise Cayman NPO, is a first-mover in private sector-facilitated education and training in the Caribbean, making it a leading force to boost youth participation in the economy. By offering training in specialised skills, Enterprise Cayman is helping to close the gap in higher education and earnings for Caymanians. “Through Enterprise Cayman we’ve set out to strategically support meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for Caymanians, by providing internship and mentorship opportunities, by hosting skill-building and career focused training, and by providing invaluable networking and community engagement opportunities,” said Kirkconnell.
In 2023 individuals took advantage of 4,226 opportunities to participate in education, training, and career development events and, since launching entrepreneurial programming in 2021, Enterprise Cayman has worked with 41 new Cayman-born business ventures. “We’re helping to develop a local talent pool that meets the demand of Cayman’s growing digital innovation and technology sectors while, in parallel, offering exciting opportunities for individuals to launch new business ventures within an innovative business environment,” said Kirkconnell.  
With CEC’s new campus and state-of-the-art facilities, Signal House, the project “holds the promise of deep, continued economic impact,” the report concludes.
To access CEC’s economic impact assessments and Enterprise Cayman’s annual reports please visit https://www.enterprisecayman.ky/reports. For more information on how to get involved and for upcoming programmes and events visit www.enterprisecayman.ky. 
Website: www.caymanenterprisecity.com LinkedIn: @CaymanEnterpriseCityTwitter:  @CEC_CaymanInstagram: @CaymanEnterpriseCityFacebook: @CaymanEnterpriseCityYouTube: @ceccayman
About Cayman Enterprise City 
Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) is an award-winning development project which consists of three special economic zones (SEZs) focused on attracting knowledge-based and specialised-services businesses to set up a genuine physical presence in the Cayman Islands. The zones included within CEC are Cayman Tech City, Cayman Commodities & Derivatives Centre, and Cayman Maritime & Aviation City. With a dedicated Government Authority, licensing fee concessions and guaranteed fast-track processes, CEC enables international companies to quickly and efficiently establish a Cayman Islands office, which in turn enables them to generate active business income within a tax neutral environment.
About Enterprise Cayman 
Enterprise Cayman is a non-profit organisation (NPO) powered by Cayman Enterprise City in partnership with Cayman Islands’ special economic zone companies (SEZCos). The organisation, which applies the Theory of Change (TOC) methodology, provides Caymanians and residents with access to high-quality learning experiences and opportunities to develop and launch new business ventures, to pursue careers within the technology and innovation sectors, and to join a dynamic network of industry professionals. Let’s grow the next generation of Caymanian innovators and entrepreneurs with Enterprise Cayman!
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1317764/2860789/Cayman_Enterprise_City_Logo.jpg
FOR MORE INFORMATION:Contact: Kaitlyn Elphinstone  Email: [email protected]  

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Strava Unveils New Chapter of Accelerated Product Development at Brand’s Flagship Event

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The Company introduces increased product velocity, leveraging advancements in Artificial Intelligence, in service of its vision of a world connected through movement 
LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Strava, the leading digital community for active people with more than 125 million athletes, today showcased its latest initiatives and product developments at its annual event, Camp Strava. With the theme of Progress, Together company leaders announced how the platform will empower its global community to make progress in the way they explore, move, and connect on Strava.

“Strava is gaining momentum to realize our vision of a world connected through movement,” said Michael Martin, chief executive officer of Strava. “We are focused on two fundamental shifts to accelerate how we deliver value to 125 million people globally– building for women and leveraging Artificial Intelligence – which will unlock new community-and-partner-powered experiences across the platform.”
A New Era of Product VelocityStrava, with new leaders at the helm, is ushering in its next era of product velocity. The company listened closely to feedback from its global community and announced three of the most requested features coming to the platform by the end of the year.
The first of these updates, AI-enabled Leaderboard Integrity, will harness machine learning to automatically flag irregular, improbable, or impossible activities recorded to the platform. Trained by millions of activities, this feature allows all users on Strava to play fair and have more fun.
Additionally, the company announced a new Family Plan Subscription, the sister of the company’s Student Plan. With Family Plan, it’s easier to make a fitness commitment with your community by sharing an annual subscription with up to three other people – friends, family, or fitness family. Launching in select countries this summer, with plans to roll out globally by the end of the year, Strava’s newest annual subscription option offers the best value for groups (up to four), with a discount off the regular subscription price for each member.
Strava also implemented an updated design system, an initiative that is integral in driving a heightened pace of product innovation at the company. Through this work, Strava announced the launch of one of the company’s most requested features, Dark mode. Dark mode will improve the in-app experience for all users, reducing eye strain and improving accessibility while they record activity or scroll through the feed. Athletes can expect a rollout later this summer with options to keep their mobile settings always dark, always light, or match their device settings.
Company leaders highlighted several other features and updates to current products like Flyover, with its next iteration offering an overlay with activity stats and off-platform sharing capabilities. The overlay is available today for Strava subscribers and an off-platform sharing option will be released later this year.
Build for Her, Build for ManyStudies show that women of all ages participate in sports at a far lower rate than men, and overall, despite wanting to be active, find less time to dedicate to an active lifestyle. As the company continues on its mission to motivate people to live their best active lives, building for women on the platform will ultimately serve everyone in the Strava community. Several new features and initiatives were announced as a part of this strategic focus, which includes:
Night Heatmaps: Night Heatmaps show only activities between sundown and sunrise – so athletes can get an idea of which roads, trails, and paths are well-trafficked after hours. Since Night Heatmaps filter for after-hours routes, it can be a helpful tool for female athletes training before sunrise and after sunset.Quick Edit: For active women, having control over what is shared with the Strava community that cheers them on – like what time a run is logged – is important. Quick Edit makes it easier to make the most common edits – like activity name, and privacy settings so you can hide your start time, your map, or other workout stats.Strive for More®: The company announced a new phase of its Strive for More® initiative, created in 2022 to promote and support women in movement and sport. Today, Strava unveiled an official partnership with media company TOGETHXR to encourage more women to watch – and play – women’s sports. As part of the partnership, Strava will also donate $100,000 to the Alex Morgan Foundation, started by co-founder of TOGETHXR, Alex Morgan, to support their mission to help girls and women find confident paths forward in sports and life.Athlete IntelligenceToday, Strava announced the start of an accelerated product roadmap, outlining how Strava will implement the latest technological enhancements in AI and machine learning, to transform the athlete experience.
One key advancement to the platform includes the company’s latest development, Athlete Intelligence. Strava is introducing its beta AI-powered feature which turns each subscriber’s training data into an easily digestible summary that contextualizes their accomplishments and fitness goals. Unlike other AI-powered training services, Strava connects with thousands of devices, wearables, and fitness apps, so an athlete’s insights can consider their entire fitness story across multiple sports and modalities.
The features shared at Camp Strava will be released on a rolling basis through the end of the year. To view the full list of product releases and further details, visit www.press.strava.com.
For more information on Strava, to create a free account, or to start a free subscription trial visit www.strava.com.
About Strava Strava is the leading digital community for active people with more than 125 million athletes, in more than 190 countries. The platform offers a holistic view of your active lifestyle, no matter where you live, which sport you love and/or what device you use. Everyone belongs on Strava when they are pursuing an active life. Join the community, find motivation and discover new experiences with a Strava subscription. 
Visit www.strava.com for more information and connect with Strava on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Media Contact: [email protected]
 
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