Henkel shampoo sales slide but cleaning products soar

German consumer goods group Henkel reported a big drop in sales of its beauty care business on Thursday on the closure of hair salons due to the coronavirus and a hit to its adhesives unit, but it saw a surge in demand for cleaning products.

Henkel said group second-quarter sales fell 11% to 4.6 billion euros (4.16 billion pounds), meeting average analyst forecasts for 4.6 billion, and a decline of 9.4% after stripping out the effect of currencies and acquisitions.

Adjusted operating profit for the first half fell 28% to 1.191 billion euros. Henkel, which makes Dial soap and Persil detergent, declined to give an outlook for the full year due to continued uncertainties.