International. The company increased sales by 13.5% to €4,695 million, with a refined EBIT margin of 16.4%. Earnings per preferred share grew by 11.2% to €1.29. Growth regions recorded strong organic sales growth (+5.1%). Sales in Latin America reached 292 million euros, representing an organic growth of 8.4%.
Commenting on Henkel's performance in the first six months of the year, Kasper Rorsted, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: "In the first half of 2015 we were able to increase our sales by around €1.1 billion to over €9.1 billion. With organic sales growth of 3.0%, adjusted EBIT margin of 16.2% and adjusted EPS growth of 12.3%, we are on track to achieve our target for this year."
Henkel expects organic sales growth of 3 to 5% for 2015. The company believes that the growth of the Adhesive Technologies and Laundry & Home Care divisions will be within this range. For the Beauty Care division, they expect growth of approx. 2%. In addition, it continues to expect a steady evolution of the sales share of the growth markets. Compared to 2014, the company expects to increase the adjusted return on sales (EBIT) to around 16% and an increase in the adjusted result per preferred share of approximately 10%.
