Henkel reported 6% organic sales growth in its Laundry & Home Care business in the third quarter, with dishwashing and fabric cleaning supporting demand. Its detailed update, published on 10 November, also showed rising material costs weighing on the earnings outlook.

The German group confirmed figures and annual guidance first announced on 29 October. Today’s statement adds category and regional detail; the higher full-year sales forecast is not a new upgrade.

Consumer Brands sales reached €2.643 billion, up 10.1% on a reported basis and 4.8% organically. Price contributed 3.2% and volume 1.6% to organic growth. Acquisitions, including OLAPLEX and Not Your Mother’s, added 6.4%, while currencies reduced sales by 1.2%.

Those measures answer different questions for buyers. Reported growth includes changes to the business portfolio. Organic growth removes acquisitions, disposals and currency effects. The positive volume contribution shows that the consumer business’s expansion was not solely a result of higher prices.

Within laundry and home care, hand dishwashing helped home care deliver double-digit organic growth. Hair sales grew 4% organically. Other consumer businesses declined 1.2%, mainly because of European body care.

Henkel is one of the largest FMCG companies in Germany. Founded in 1876, it is based in Düsseldorf and employs about 50,000 people worldwide. Its 2025 sales were approximately €20.5 billion.

For supermarket category managers, the split between laundry, hair and body care is more useful than applying a single group growth rate to every aisle. Promotional plans and stock commitments need to reflect category demand rather than the effect of acquisitions elsewhere in the portfolio.

Group sales totalled €5.713 billion in Q3, up 11%, with organic growth of 6.5%. Packaging & Consumer Goods adhesives grew 9.8% organically.

In the US, APPLIED distributes Henkel’s flexible packaging technologies under an exclusive agreement announced in July.

Henkel expects direct material prices to rise around 10% this year before countermeasures. Its confirmed outlook calls for group organic growth of 3% to 4% and an adjusted operating margin around 15%.

That cost estimate is not an announced supermarket price increase. Any effect on individual products depends on the supplier’s cost recovery, productivity and commercial negotiations. Buyers will need product-level evidence before treating a group input-cost forecast as a reason to change shelf prices.

The remaining quarter will test whether volume growth can continue as Henkel absorbs higher costs. Its task is to turn stronger sales into earnings without losing the demand behind its laundry and home care performance.

Editor’s note: Based on Henkel’s Q3 statement dated 10 November 2026 and company profile. Guidance was originally updated on 29 October.