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.

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 Adhesive Technologies, a business unit of Henkel, announced today a price increase of 10 – 20% for various grades of industrial adhesives that are affected by the rising costs of petrochemical feedstock based raw materials. The price increase will be implemented in Asia with immediate effect or as existing contracts allow.

Henkel, a global leader in the adhesives, cosmetics, and homecare sectors announced the signing of a sponsorship agreement with the German Pavilion for the World Expo Shanghai 2010. This sponsorship will see Henkel become an Official Sponsor of the German Pavilion throughout the course of the Shanghai World Expo – the largest World Fair in history.

Addressing the challenges posed by traditional greases and phase-change thermal interface materials, Henkel has developed and commercialized Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P), a new print-friendly thermal management product.

• 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

“Henkel has made a good start to the fiscal year, with all our business sectors contributing. Despite the persistently challenging environment, Laundry & Home Care and Cosmetics/Toiletries continued their successful development of recent quarters, while Adhesive Technologies also returned to robust rates of sales growth,” said Kasper Rorsted, Chairman of the Henkel Management Board, adding: “Once again our strong brands made a further major contribution to Henkel’s gratifying Q1 results. However, this very good performance is also down to our efforts in adapting our structures and reducing our costs, coupled with the good progress we have made in the implementation of our strategic priorities. Now we are looking forward to a noticeable improvement in our results of more than 15 percent for the full fiscal year versus 2009.”

Never content to rest on the laurels of its proven lead-free success, Henkel has developed and launched Multicore LF620: a new lead-free solder paste that effectively delivers on a broad range of demanding requirements, essentially offering a lead-free paste that has it all.

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.

• 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*

At Henkel, sustainability is a core business factor. This is why Henkel is today publishing its Sustainability Report 2009 simultaneously with its Annual Report. The Sustainability Report provides an overview of the main ecological and social developments in fiscal 2009.

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