Givaudan's organic sales growth beats market view on fragrance strength

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan reported third-quarter organic sales growth well ahead of market expectations on Tuesday, driven by its fragrance arm and a continued recovery in flavours, offering an early read on demand at the food and perfume makers it supplies.

The Geneva-based company has benefited from strong fragrance sales while taking steps to boost its flavours arm following weak sales in North America, including a strategic review of its natural ingredients business.

• Q3 organic sales grew 8.6%, compared with a company-compiled consensus of 4.7%

• The unit making flavourings for food and drink grew 3.5%, against a consensus of 2.8%

• The fragrance arm, which creates scents for perfumes and household products, grew 13.5% while analysts expected 6.6%

• Givaudan has raised prices in collaboration with clients to fully compensate for higher input costs this year, it said

• Nine-month sales reached 5.89 billion Swiss francs ($7.07 billion), up 5.2% on a like-for-like basis, versus a consensus of 3.9%

($1 = 0.8330 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Rafal Nowak in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)