• Sales increase by 11.6 percent to 3,890 million euros
• Organic sales growth of 6.8 percent
• Share of sales of growth regions: plus 3 percentage points to 41 percent
• Adjusted operating profit: plus 54.5 percent to 476 million euros
• Adjusted EBIT margin: plus 3.5 percentage points to 12.2 percent
• Adjusted earnings per preferred share (EPS): plus 97.1 percent to 0.73 euros

Fungi, yeasts and bacteria – for some they may sound like a list of the most feared of pathogens, but for others they constitute living mini-factories capable of producing substances such as enzymes, citric acid and, lately, biosurfactants. “White Biotechnology” is the scientific term for industrial-scale production of substances with micro-organisms in closed systems. Indeed, without this technology, laundry and home care products would be significantly different than what we see today – because it is being used to an ever increasing degree in the manufacture of their key ingredients.

Henkel’s Corporate Report, comprising its annual report and its sustainability report, counts among the best in the world, according to a ranking of the 100 best corporate reports recently presented by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP).  Henkel came in 11th overall, receiving a platinum award.

Between June 30 and July 2, the Board of Trustees for Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU), USA met with international experts from industry, the sciences and the political scene for a conference and exchange of views, knowledge and experience. The topics discussed ranged from the role of multinational companies and political programs to sustainability science in higher education.

In recognition of his outstanding doctorate thesis investigating the physico-chemical properties of foams, Dr. Enda Carey of Ireland received from Henkel the “Laundry and Home Care Research Award” conferred by the company for the first time, carrying a monetary prize of  3,000 euros.

Henkel CEE opened the exhibition of Mladen Miljanović at the MUMOK Factory last night with an extraordinary preview. The artist born in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be exhibiting works of art from June 25 to September 12, 2010 which relate to his life, in particular his childhood during the war years as well as his training at the officer candidate school.

For the second year in a row, US retail giant Walmart has selected Henkel to receive the Walmart Sustainability Award. Henkel was recognized again as the company demonstrating the most comprehensive commitment to sustainability, thus making a substantial contribution to Walmart’s own sustainability strategy.

Henkel Hungary’s four brands received the Superbrand award as a mark of excellence.  The company can take pride in a super brand in all of its business sectors now – Vademecum in Cosmetics/Toiletries, Pattex in Adhesive Technologies, while Persil and Perwoll detergent brands in Laundry & Home Care gained the award given to the best.  Henkel Hungary has also received the Business Superbrands status in 2010.

• Sales increase by 7.8 percent to 3,512 million euros
• Organic sales growth of 8.8 percent
• Adjusted operating profit: plus 79.1 percent to 421 million euros
• Adjusted EBIT margin: plus 4.8 percentage points to 12.0 percent
• Adjusted earnings per preferred share (EPS): plus 93.5 percent

Eleven teams, one objective: to win the Henkel Innovation Challenge. At the international final of Henkel’s student competition in Amsterdam (Netherlands), exceptionally well prepared teams presented their creative ideas for the year 2050 – leaving the company’s top managers on the jury no easy task in selecting the winners.

For the fourth year in a row, Henkel is acting as an official sponsor of the IIHF World Championship. The company will be prominent with its corporate brand, its detergent brand Persil and its building technology brands Ceresit and Thomsit in the ice hockey arenas of Gelsenkirchen, Cologne and Mannheim.

Henkel has been included in the list of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” for the third year in a row. The ranking prepared by the US Ethisphere Institute recognizes companies from around the globe for their exemplary ethical approach to corporate governance and their commitment to sustainable development.

For the ninth time, Henkel Central Eastern Europe (Henkel CEE) has announced a call for entries to win the Henkel Art.Award., the only comprehensive art promotion prize for the Region Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Artists from 31 countries are invited to submit their works of art to win the prize, endowed to the sum of 7,000 euros. On the basis of the cooperation agreement concluded with the modern art museum “Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK)“, the Henkel Art.Award. 2010 not only offers the award winner an exhibition in his or her native country, but also an individual presentation at MUMOK in Vienna. At the same time, Henkel CEE is also granting the Henkel Art.Award. Promotional Prize for Young Austrian Artists, featuring a monetary grant of 2,000 euros. Moreover, in cooperation with its longstanding partner KulturKontakt Austria, Henkel CEE is also bestowing a third prize, namely the Henkel Art.Award. Promotional Prize for Young CEE Artists, which includes a monetary award of 2,000 euros. The prize winner is selected from among the participants in the Artists-in-Residence Program of KulturKontakt Austria. Details on how to enter the Henkel Art.Award. 2010 prize competition are available at http://hcee.com/artaward

Unforeseeable currency problems and a massive collapse in demand on the part of industrial customers posed the most serious challenges to Henkel Central Eastern Europe (Henkel CEE) in the past financial year. Nevertheless, total sales calculated in local currencies rose by 2.3 percent, thanks to an outstanding performance of Henkel’s brand-name product business. Currency devaluations of more than 14 percent against the euro ultimately resulted in an 11.4 percent drop in the total revenues generated by Henkel CEE, to 2,230 million euros. “I am very proud that we succeeded in expanding our market position in all three business sectors – Laundry & Home Care, Cosmetics/Toiletries and Adhesive Technologies – in spite of the extremely difficult economic conditions”, says Günter Thumser, President of Henkel CEE. “That is one reason why we are making heavy anti-cyclical investments in our consumer goods business, and have considerably increased our advertising presence”.

• Laundry & Home Care has substantially higher earnings
• Cosmetics/Toiletries continues very successful performance
• Adhesive Technologies shows strong recovery throughout the year
• Adjusted return on sales in Q4/2009 is 12.4 percent
• Net debt reduced by 1 billion euros
• Proposed dividends kept at prior-year levels

• 25 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions*
• 26 percent lower energy consumption*
• 37 percent lower water consumption*
• 12 percent less waste*

It all starts with an idea. A sudden thought. A solution to a recognized problem. But that is not enough. Those wishing to qualify for the ‘Fritz Henkel Award for Innovation’ have to implement that idea in practice – and prove its commercial viability in the marketplace. These are the criteria against which, each year, Henkel confers this much-coveted commendation on three winning teams of employees for the best product innovations.

Sustainability is fundamental to Henkel’s business DNA. However, affirmation of this through specific forms of recognition from industrial and retail customers is as important as it is gratifying. Three times in 2009, Henkel’s ‘Year of the Customer’, major international business partners awarded the company for special contributions made to their own efforts in the sustainability domain.

The detergent “Merix” produced and marketed by Henkel Merima won the Top Corner Award in the 2009 competition in Serbia in the category “consumer goods”.