Henkel posts solid third quarter, looks to grow further in U.S.

Posting 7.6 percent earnings growth in the third quarter that was powered in part by its $3.6 billion acquisition of Wilton-based laundry and home care company The Sun Products Corp. earlier this year, Germany”™s Henkel AG & Co. said it is aiming to overtake U.S. market leader Procter & Gamble Co.

“We”™re still very far behind the big market leader, but it”™s also the case that there are not many more small competitors,” Hans Van Bylen, CEO of #2 Henkel, said on a Nov. 8 earnings call. With the Sun acquisition, Henkel now has about a 20 percent share of the U.S laundry market and can “do a lot with our current position” to grow internally, Van Bylen said.

Earnings before interest and taxes rose 7.6 percent to 837 million euros ($922 million), while sales increased 3.4 percent to 4.7 billion euros ($5.2 billion).

Henkel reiterated full-year targets for organic sales to grow by 2 to 4 percent.