Latin America. Henkel's sales in Latin America grew 5.1% during the first quarter of 2009, standing out above Asia, Europe and the United States, which recorded declines of 20%, 4.6% and 14%, respectively.In total, the sales record reached US$256.1 million, mainly due to results in the area of detergents in Central America and cosmetics, throughout the region. "In the segments linked to the automotive industry, we suffered the same problems as them, but in consumer goods we had significant results," said Leandro Conti, head of communications for Latin America.
According to the executive, the fall in the industrial pace in Latin America was smaller than in other regions, which allowed to minimize the effects of the crisis on the sales of the industrial, consumer and professional adhesives division.
Henkel's global sales reached $4.438 billion in the first quarter, operating profit (EBIT) fell 31.7% to $297 million.
