Paris, Aug 25 - French producer of natural extracts for some of the world's top food and cosmetics groups Naturex is seeing sales rise as consumers seek to take better care of themselves during the economic crisis.
"We have a lot of body care products, for slimming, tanning or combating depression, and we have seen the consumption of these products rise because, in a crisis, people need them," Chairman and Chief Executive Jacques Dikansky said on Tuesday.
"It's like lipstick," he told Reuters in an interview.
Naturex, which is based in Avignon, in southern France, supplies natural flavourings and colourings for the food industry as well as plant extracts for so-called nutraceutical products that combine nutriments and pharmaceuticals.
Resilient spending on health supplements and consumers' appetite for natural products will help Naturex post "good or even very good" first-half results later this month, Dikansky said.
He confirmed its target of a 10-15 percent rise in full-year sales and an operating margin of between 12 and 13 percent.
"We haven't felt the crisis, or very little, be it in Europe or the U.S. in 2008 or 2009," Dikansky said.
"Some would have thought that in a crisis, (companies) would have stopped replacing synthetic products with more expensive natural products, but the industry hasn't taken a step backwards, quite the contrary," he said.
Dikansky said there were some negative effects in the food industry, where consumption had eased about 2 or 3 percent, but that the crisis had proven the resilience of its industry.
In 2008, Naturex reported sales of 93.3 million euros ($133.3 million). Its nutraceutical division, with products such as antioxidant rosemary extracts, accounted for 61 percent, and its food and beverage division about 33 percent.
The company is buying the ingredients business of Spain's Natraceutical but is also on the hunt for more acquisitions in the cosmetics sector, which accounts for a marginal part of Naturex's sales, and in Asia, he said.
COSMETICS PURCHASES
Dikansky ruled out a capital increase to help fund the Spanish transaction, which will see the group double in size to compete with Denmark's Danisco and America's Cargill. Such a move was deemed possible by several analysts.
"It is absolutely not on the agenda. We don't need it and we won't do it," he said.
Dikansky declined to give the value of the acquisition but said he planned to integrate the business fully by the end of this year. The parts of Natraceutical it is buying had sales of 102 million euros last year.
"It is clear that the Natraceutical operation is going to quench our thirst in the food and nutraceutical industries. But we need to give more consistency to our cosmetics activity, and a small or mid-sized acquisition would give that," he said.
The Natraceutical purchase will help the company balance its geographical presence with stronger sales in Europe, as Naturex makes about 60 percent of sales in North America, Dikansky said.
"We need more than ever to become a truly global supplier," he added, referring also to possible acquisitions in Asia.
Naturex shares rose 5.6 percent to 28.51 euros on Tuesday, giving it a market value of about 110 million euros. Dikansky, through his SGD holding, owns 27 percent of Naturex.