Regulatory investigation
In 2023, certain competition authorities commenced an industry-wide investigation into the fragrances sector alleging potential violations of anti-trust law. As part thereof, unannounced inspections were carried out at several Firmenich offices in France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and Firmenich received a subpoena from the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. Subsequently, regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions also launched parallel anti-trust investigations. The company is fully cooperating with the authorities. The United States Department of Justice has recently advised the company that it shall be closing its anti-trust investigation of dsm-firmenich. As per the date of the release of this Report, no additional updates on the investigations are available. In addition, multiple civil lawsuits have been filed against the company relating to the investigation.
Sustainability
Information relating to sustainability risks (including climate risk) is disclosed in the Sustainability Statements. Material sustainability risks are integrated and managed as part of the regular Enterprise Risk Management framework. The impact of physical climate change and loss of biodiversity on our value chain is included as a long-term risk.
ANH separation
The Animal, Nutrition & Health (ANH) business carve-out’s complexity, operational interdependencies, and ongoing restructuring create a potential risk of disruption before and after separation. ANH is run as a stand-alone organization as of January 2026.
Other risks
There are also other business risks, such as innovation, business continuity, product quality, tax, increasing regulatory requirements, and increasing non-financial reporting requirements, with proper mitigations plans in place, assessed and evaluated on regular basis.
All relevant risks are considered in the preparation of our financial statements.