…and emerging markets fuel IFF growth

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES INC. $63 (New York symbol IFF; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $5.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.iff.com) makes compounds that improve the taste of food and the smell of a variety of consumer products. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, sales rose 9.2%, to $714.3 million from $653.9 million a year earlier. Excluding a charge due to a plant closure in Europe in the year-earlier quarter, earnings per share would have risen 21.2%, to $1.03 from $0.85. IFF’s sales continue to rise in emerging markets, where more people can now afford packaged foods and scented products. It is also profiting from rising demand for more appealing foods in North America and other developed markets. International Flavors & Fragrances is a buy. buy…