International Flavors & Fragrances Beats Q1 Views

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc IFF reported upbeat results for the first quarter on Tuesday. The New York-based company reported quarterly earnings of $128.3 million, or $1.57 per share, compared to $106.7 million, or $1.30 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.45 per share. Its revenue rose 1 percent year-over-year to $774.9 million from $770.2 million, while currency neutral sales climbed 6 percent. Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.43 per share on revenue of $768 million. The average estimate among 6 Estimize users was for earnings of $1.44 per share and revenue of $772.93 million. Sales to the emerging markets surged 9 percent on a currency neutral basis. Currency neutral sales at its fragrances business unit rose 5 percent in the quarter, while currency neutral sales at its flavors business unit climbed 9 percent in the first quarter. Its operating profit rose 4 percent to $161.8 million from $156.1 million. IFF Chairman and CEO Andreas Fibig said, "Looking to the balance of year, we continue to believe we can deliver attractive returns to our shareholders. On a currency neutral basis, we expect all of our key financial metrics to be in line with our long-term targets in 2015. Yet, if global currencies remain where they are today throughout the rest of the year, we expect adjusted operating profit and adjusted EPS to grow low to mid-single-digits." International Flavors & Fragrances shares fell 0.12 percent to close at $119.30 yesterday.