IFF Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

IFF (NYSE: IFF) reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

Management Commentary

“IFF delivered solid first quarter results, driven by disciplined execution and broad-based growth across most of our business,” said IFF CEO Erik Fyrwald. “Our growth, combined with ongoing productivity initiatives, contributed to a meaningful increase in profitability. We also successfully completed the divestiture of our Pharma Solutions business two months ahead of schedule, a key milestone that supports the achievement of our targeted debt leverage ratio."

“As we navigate the heightened macroeconomic uncertainty in today’s environment, we remain focused on what we can control - collaborating with our customers to drive growth, investing in innovation and delivering increased productivity. We are maintaining our full-year financial guidance ranges but recognize that the uncertain environment has potential for more challenges, yet we remain confident in our long-term strategy and the actions we are taking to strengthen IFF.”

First Quarter 2025 Consolidated Financial Results

• Reported net sales for the first quarter were $2.84 billion, a decrease of 2% versus the prior-year period. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ increased 3% versus the prior-year period with strong growth in Taste, Pharma Solutions, Health & Biosciences and Scent.
• Loss before taxes on a reported basis for the first quarter was $(994) million. This was a result of an impairment of goodwill of $1.15 billion in Food Ingredients related to the separation of the Company's Nourish segment into Taste and Food Ingredients. Adjusted operating EBITDA¹ for the first quarter was $578 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ improved 9% versus the prior-year period, driven by volume growth, favorable net pricing and productivity gains.
• Reported earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter was $(3.98). Adjusted EPS excluding amortization¹ was $1.20 per diluted share.
• Cash flows from operations for the first quarter was $127 million, and free cash flow¹ defined as cash flows from operations less capital expenditures totaled $(52) million. Net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA¹ at the end of the first quarter was 3.9x.

Taste Segment

• On a reported basis, first quarter sales were $627 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ increased 7% with broad-based growth in all regions.
• Taste adjusted operating EBITDA¹ was $131 million and adjusted operating EBITDA margin¹ was 20.9% in the first quarter. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ increased 22% led by volume growth, favorable net pricing and productivity gains.

Food Ingredients Segment

• On a reported basis, first quarter sales were $796 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ decreased 4% primarily due to lower demand in protein solutions.
• Food Ingredients adjusted operating EBITDA¹ was $111 million and adjusted operating EBITDA margin¹ was 13.9% in the first quarter. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ increased 5% driven by favorable net pricing and productivity.

Health & Biosciences Segment

• On a reported basis, first quarter sales were $540 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ increased 5% driven by growth across all businesses.
• Health & Biosciences adjusted operating EBITDA¹ was $138 million and adjusted operating EBITDA margin¹ was 25.6% in the first quarter. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ increased 3% as volume growth and productivity more than offset reinvestment.

Scent Segment

• On a reported basis, first quarter sales were $614 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ increased 4% led by growth in Fine Fragrance and Consumer Fragrance.
• Scent adjusted operating EBITDA¹ was $144 million and adjusted operating EBITDA margin¹ was 23.5% in the first quarter. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ increased 4% led primarily by volume growth and productivity gains.

Pharma Solutions Segment

• On a reported basis, first quarter sales were $266 million. On a comparable basis², currency neutral sales¹ increased 8% led by broad based growth.
• Pharma Solutions adjusted operating EBITDA¹ was $54 million and adjusted operating EBITDA margin¹ was 20.3% in the first quarter. On a comparable basis², currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA¹ increased 19% led primarily by the distribution model change and productivity gains.

Financial Guidance

The Company continues to expect full year 2025 sales to be in the range of $10.6 billion to $10.9 billion and full year 2025 adjusted operating EBITDA to be in the range of $2 billion to $2.15 billion. This outlook includes the impact of current tariff exposure and does not account for potential recessionary pressures that could arise from recent shifts in trade policy.

The Company continues to expect comparable currency neutral sales growth to be between 1% to 4%, with growth in most businesses. Comparable currency neutral adjusted operating EBITDA is expected to grow 5% to 10% year-over-year.

Based on recent market foreign exchange rates, the Company now expects that foreign exchange will have an approximately 2% (versus 4% previously) adverse impact to sales growth and an approximately 3% (versus 6% previously) adverse impact to adjusted operating EBITDA growth in 2025.

Full year guidance now includes four months of Pharma Solutions results (versus six months previously) as the divestiture closed earlier-than-anticipated on May 1, 2025. This results in an approximately 7% (versus 5% previously) adverse impact to sales growth and an approximately 8% (versus 6% previously) adverse impact to adjusted operating EBITDA growth in 2025.

The Company cannot reconcile its expected adjusted operating EBITDA without unreasonable effort because certain items that impact net income and other reconciling metrics are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted at this time. These items include but are not limited to divestiture and integration costs, gains (losses) on business disposals, and regulatory costs.

Audio Webcast

A live webcast to discuss the Company’s first quarter 2025 financial results will be held on May 7, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. ET. The webcast and accompanying slide presentation may be accessed on the Company’s IR website at ir.iff.com. For those unable to listen to the live webcast, a recorded version will be made available on the Company’s website approximately one hour after the event and will remain available on IFF’s website for one year.

Cautionary Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts or information, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current assumptions, estimates and expectations, including those concerning expected cash flow and availability of capital resources to fund our operations and meet our debt service requirements; our ability to execute on our strategic and financial transformation, through non-core business divestitures and acquisitions, and expectations regarding the implementation of our refreshed growth-focused strategy and expectations around our business divestitures; our ability to continue to generate value for, and return cash to, our shareholders; expectations of the impact of inflationary pressures and the pricing actions to offset exposure to such impacts; expectations regarding the impact of government actions including tariffs; the impact of high input costs, including commodities, raw materials, transportation and energy; the expected impact of global supply chain challenges; our ability to enhance our innovation efforts, drive cost efficiencies and execute on specific consumer trends and demands; the growth potential of the markets in which we operate, including the emerging markets; expectations regarding sales and profit for the fiscal year 2025, including the impact of foreign exchange, pricing actions, raw materials, energy, and sourcing, logistics and manufacturing costs; the impact of global economic uncertainty and recessionary pressures on demand for consumer products; the success of our integration efforts, following acquisitions, including the acquisition of Frutarom and the N&B Transaction, and ability to deliver on our synergy commitments as well as future opportunities for the combined company; our strategic investments in capacity and increasing inventory to drive improved profitability; our ability to drive cost discipline measures and the ability to recover margin to pre-inflation levels; expected capital expenditures in 2025; and the expected costs and benefits of our ongoing optimization of our manufacturing operations, including the expected number of closings.

These forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration given to the many risks and uncertainties inherent in our business that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Certain of such forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as “expect”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “outlook”, “may”, “estimate”, “should”, “predict” and similar terms or variations thereof. Such forward-looking statements are based on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the Company, are not guarantees of future results or performance, and involve significant risks, uncertainties and other factors, including assumptions and projections, for all forward periods. Our actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: (1) our substantial amount of indebtedness and its impact on our liquidity, credit ratings and ability to return capital to its shareholders; (2) our ability to successfully execute our strategic transformation; (3)the impact of regulatory, consumer, and economic trends for consumer products; (4) the impact of the outcomes of legal claims, disputes, regulatory investigations and litigation; (5) supply chain disruptions, geopolitical developments, climate change events, natural disasters, public health crises, tariffs and trade wars, and other events that may affect our suppliers or procurement of raw materials, and our development, manufacturing, distribution or sale of our products, and thus may impact our productivity, business and financial results; (6) inflationary trends, including in the price of our input costs, such as raw materials, transportation and energy; (7) our ability to successfully manage our working capital and inventory balances; (8) our ability to attract and retain key employees, and manage turnover of top executives; (9) our ability to successfully market to our expanded and diverse customer base; (10) our ability to effectively compete in our market and develop and introduce new products that meet customers’ needs; (11) changes in demand from large multi-national customers due to increased competition and our ability to maintain “core list” status with customers; (12) our ability to successfully develop innovative and cost-effective products that allow customers to achieve their own profitability expectations; (13) the impact of a significant data breach or other disruption in our information technology systems; (14) our ability to benefit from our investments and expansion in emerging markets; (15) the impact of currency fluctuations or devaluations in the principal foreign markets in which we operate; (16) economic, regulatory and political risks associated with our international operations; (17) our ability to declare and pay dividends which is subject to certain considerations; (18) our ability to react in a timely and cost-effective manner to changes in consumer preferences and demands, including increased awareness of health and wellness; (19) our ability to meet increasing customer, consumer, shareholder and regulatory focus on sustainability; (20) any impairment on our tangible or intangible long-lived assets; (21) our ability to enter into or close strategic transactions or divestments, or successfully establish and manage acquisitions, collaborations, joint ventures or partnerships; (22) changes in market conditions or governmental regulations relating to our pension and postretirement obligations; (23) our ability to comply with, and the costs associated with compliance with, regulatory requirements and industry standards, including regarding product safety, quality, efficacy and environment impact; (24) defects, quality issues (including product recalls), inadequate disclosure or misuse with respect to the products and capabilities; (25) our ability to comply with, and the costs associated with compliance with, U.S. and foreign environmental protection laws; (26) the impact of our or our counterparties’ failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, similar U.S. or foreign anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations, applicable sanctions or competition laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate or ethical business practices and related laws and regulations; (27) our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; (28) changes in business and operations related to the adoption of artificial intelligence; (29) the impact of changes in federal, state, local and international tax legislation or policies and adverse results of tax audits, assessments, or disputes; and (30) the impact of any tax liability resulting from the N&B Transaction.

The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the Company (such as in our other filings with the SEC or in company press releases) for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the Company. Please refer to Part I. Item 1A., Risk Factors, of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2025 for additional information regarding factors that could affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

We intend our forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of such statements and do not undertake or plan to update or revise them as more information becomes available or to reflect changes in expectations, assumptions or results. We can give no assurance that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of, or any material adverse change in, one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this press release or included in our other periodic reports filed with the SEC could materially and adversely impact our operations and our future financial results. Any public statements or disclosures made by us following this press release that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in or accompanying this press release will be deemed to modify or supersede such outlook or other forward-looking statements in or accompanying this press release.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We provide in this press release non-GAAP financial measures, including: (i) comparable currency neutral sales; (ii) adjusted operating EBITDA and comparable adjusted operating EBITDA; (iii) adjusted operating EBITDA margin; (iv) adjusted EPS ex amortization; (v) free cash flow; and (vi) net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA.

Our non-GAAP financial measures are defined below.

Currency Neutral metrics eliminate the effects that result from translating non-U.S. currencies to U.S. dollars. We calculate currency neutral numbers by translating current year invoiced sale amounts at the exchange rates used for the corresponding prior year period. We use currency neutral results in our analysis of segment performance. We also use currency neutral numbers when analyzing our performance against our competitors.

Comparable results for the first quarter exclude the impact of divestitures.

Adjusted operating EBITDA and adjusted operating EBITDA margin exclude depreciation and amortization, interest expense, other expense, net, and certain non-recurring or unusual items that are not part of recurring operations such as, impairment of goodwill, restructuring and other charges, divestiture and integration costs, strategic initiatives costs, regulatory costs and other items.

Adjusted EPS ex Amortization excludes the impact of non-operational items including, restructuring and other charges, divestiture and integration costs, losses (gains) on business disposals, strategic initiatives costs, regulatory costs and other items that are not a part of recurring operations.

Free Cash Flow is operating cash flow (i.e. cash flow from operations) less capital expenditures.

Net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA is the leverage ratio used in our credit agreements and defined as net debt (which is debt for borrowed money less cash and cash equivalents) divided by the trailing 12-month credit adjusted EBITDA. Credit adjusted EBITDA is defined as income (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, specified items and non-cash items.

These non-GAAP measures are intended to provide additional information regarding our underlying operating results and comparable year-over-year performance. Such information is supplemental to information presented in accordance with GAAP and is not intended to represent a presentation in accordance with GAAP. In discussing our historical and expected future results and financial condition, we believe it is meaningful for investors to be made aware of and to be assisted in a better understanding of, on a period-to-period comparable basis, financial amounts both including and excluding these identified items, as well as the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of the Company’s results under GAAP and may not be comparable to other companies’ calculation of such metrics.

The Company cannot reconcile its expected adjusted operating EBITDA under "Financial Guidance" without unreasonable effort because certain items that impact net income and other reconciling metrics are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted at this time. These items include but are not limited to divestiture and integration costs, gains (losses) on business disposals, and regulatory costs.

Welcome to IFF

At IFF (NYSE: IFF), an industry leader in food, beverage, scent, health and biosciences, science and creativity meet to create essential solutions for a better world – from global icons to unexpected innovations and experiences. With the beauty of art and the precision of science, we are an international collective of thinkers who partners with customers to bring scents, tastes, experiences, ingredients and solutions for products the world craves. Together, we will do more good for people and planet. Learn more at iff.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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1		Schedules at the end of this release contain reconciliations of reported GAAP to Non-GAAP metrics. See Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures for explanations of our Non-GAAP metrics.
2		Comparable results for the first quarter exclude the impact of divestitures.

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