Henkel Sees Immediate Profit Boost from Dial

Henkel KGaA, Dusseldorf, Germany, announced that it expects the acquisition of U.S. household products group Dial Corp. to boost profits with immediate effect. “The transaction will lead to an immediate rise in profits at Henkel,” chief executive Ulrich Lehner told investors at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Monday. The $2.9-billion deal, which was approved by Dial investors at the end of last month, is the biggest acquisition in Henkel’s history.

Mr. Lehner said he would be interested to learn from the U.S. soap maker’s business model. “With Dial having generated sales of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in fiscal 2003, the structure of the Henkel Group is bound to undergo significant changes both in terms of its product portfolio and its regional weighting,” he said.

He was still looking at which Dial brands might find a market in Europe, but said its range of air fresheners could be used to boost Henkel’s product palette in the region.

On the subject of how he ultimately planned to pay for Dial, Lehner said he was still weighing up whether to sell a chunk of Henkel’s shares in Ecolab or to reduce its stake in Clorox. A sale of some stock in both U.S. companies also remained an option.