International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) Q4 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved full-year sales of $10.89B, with currency neutral sales up 2% and growth in Taste, Health & Biosciences, and Scent, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.

• Strengthened balance sheet, reducing net debt to credit-adjusted EBITDA to 2.6x, and improved capital allocation through divestitures and disciplined strategy.

• Completed and announced divestitures, including Pharma Solutions, Nitrocellulose, René Laurent, and Soy Crush; launched sale process for Food Ingredients.

• Reinvested in R&D, commercial capabilities, and manufacturing capacity to drive future growth and innovation.

• Reported a net loss before taxes of $412M, with adjusted operating EBITDA of $2.1B and margin of 19.2%.

Financial highlights

• Full-year 2025 consolidated sales grew 1–2% currency neutral, with adjusted operating EBITDA up 7% and 100 bps margin expansion.

• Fourth quarter revenue was $2.59B, with adjusted operating EBITDA of $437M (up 7%) and margin up to 16.9%.

• Free cash flow for the year was $256M; cash flow from operations was $850M.

• Returned $409M to shareholders via dividends and $38M through share repurchases.

• Full-year adjusted EPS excluding amortization was $4.20; reported EPS was $(1.46).

Outlook and guidance

• 2026 sales expected at $10.5–$10.8B, representing 1–4% comparable currency-neutral growth, mainly volume-driven.

• 2026 adjusted operating EBITDA guidance of $2.05–$2.15B, up 3–8% year-over-year, with margin expansion and productivity gains funding reinvestment.

• CapEx to be around 6% of sales, focused on high-return projects; operating cash flow improvement is a key priority.

• Foreign exchange expected to have a 1% positive impact on sales; divestitures to have a 5% adverse impact on both sales and EBITDA.

• Expect modest input cost inflation, with pricing slightly down due to commodity Fragrance Ingredients and some Food Ingredients.