COPENHAGEN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Novozymes, the world's largest producer of industrial enzymes, reported on Friday better-than-expected financial results for the first half of 2017.
"Overall, the first half was good, and better than expected," said Peder Holk Nielsen, president and CEO of Novozymes, in a statement.
"We had growth in the large segments and delivered 3 percent organic sales growth with a strong EBIT margin, excluding one-offs," Nielsen said.
According to the interim financial report, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first six months of 2017 stood at 1.973 billion Danish kroner, up 3 percent from 1.911 billion kroner year-on-year.
Sales rose 3 percent to 7.278 billion kroner in the first half of 2017 as compared to the same period last year.
In the first half, the company's household care enzymes grew by 3 percent to stand at 2.397 billion kroner, contributing 33 percent of total sales.
Novozymes maintained its full-year expectations for organic growth with sales and net profit to grow between 2 and 5 percent, while EBIT margin projected at around 28 percent.
However, the outlook for sales and EBIT growth in Danish kroner have been adjusted to 1 to 4 percent as against a previous forecast of 3 to 6 percent, due to "a weaker currency environment." (1 U.S. dollar = 6.33 Danish kroner)
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