IFF aims to cut its debt

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES INC. $77 remains a buy for long-term gains. The company (New York symbol IFF; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 255.3 million; Market cap: $19.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.iff.com) makes compounds that improve the taste of food and the smell of consumer products. Due to slowing volumes as its customers use up their existing inventories and the negative impact of rising interest rates, IFF wrote down the value of recent acquisitions by $2.6 billion. If you exclude that charge and other unusual item, IFF’s earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2023, fell 29.0%, to $0.22 a share (or a total of $56 million) from $0.31 a share (or $78 million) a year earlier. IFF’s sales in the quarter also declined 5.0%, to $2.70 billion from $2.84 billion. The company is now cutting your quarterly dividend by 50.6%. Starting with the April 2024 payment, investors will receive $0.40 a share instead of…