IFF Reports 9% Gain in Q4

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., a leading global creator of flavors and fragrances for consumer products, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. In the fourth quarter, revenue grew 9% over the prior year period to $586 million. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, revenue in local currency increased over 2%.

For the full year, the company reported revenue of $2.3 billion, a 3% decline over the prior year.

“Given the economic challenges we faced over the course of the year, we are very pleased with how we finished 2009,” said Kevin Berryman, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “The combination of focused strategies, disciplined cost control, and prudent working capital management enabled us to build sales, earnings and cash flow momentum in the second half of the year. We took important steps to strengthen our product portfolio, enhance our geographic growth opportunities and optimize our manufacturing and supply chain footprint to further reinforce our competitive position.”

“As our strategic initiatives continue to gain traction and we adapt to an ever changing economy, we believe that we are well-positioned to return to local currency sales growth and improve on our overall profitability in 2010,” Berryman continued.