Adhesive and sealants firm saw sales rise 5.8% to 16,510m Euros in 2012, with operating profit up 15%
Henkel ceo Kasper Rorsted said of the results: "2012 was the most successful year for Henkel so far: we achieved excellent results in a highly volatile and competitive market environment and met or exceeded all financial targets."

Looking at fiscal year 2013, Mr Rorsted added: "The strong dynamics and high volatility in our markets will persist. Although Henkel is well positioned, we will continue to further simplify and improve our processes in order to respond to changes faster than our competition.
We expect organic sales growth for the full fiscal year to be between 3 and 5%. We also expect to increase our adjusted EBIT margin to around 14.5%, and improve adjusted earnings per preferred share by around 10 percent."

Despite economic activity slowing overall during the course of the year, sales in the adhesive technologies side of the business, which includes the Loctite and Unibond brands, increased above the 8bn Euro mark for the first time, reaching a new high of 8,256m Euros. Organic growth, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions/divestments, was around 3.6%.

Reported operating profit (EBIT) for the business as a whole, amounted to 2,199 million Euros compared to 1,765 million Euros in the prior year.

Following the positive results, the management board, supervisory board and shareholders' committee have proposed an increase in dividends, up 18.8% per preferred share of 0.95 Euros (previous year: 0.80 Euros) and up 19.2% per ordinary share of 0.93 Euros (previous year: 0.78 Euros).