Roquette posts 9% revenue growth in H1 2026 on pharma excipient gains
Roquette, the family-owned French producer of plant-based ingredients and pharmaceutical excipients, reported a 9% rise in first-half 2026 turnover to €2,586 million, with Current EBITDA climbing 18% to €337 million. The reported margin expanded by 101 basis points to 13.0%, supported by the full six-month contribution of the cellulose and alginates product lines absorbed from the IFF Pharma Solutions acquisition, which closed in May 2025.
Chief executive Thierry Fournier attributed the performance to new product lines in the pharma and healthcare segment and early progress under Shift & Lead, the group's strategic transformation programme launched in early 2026. On a like-for-like basis, which strips out currency movements and the perimeter effect of the IFF acquisition, turnover declined 2% and Current EBITDA was also down 2%, pointing to continued pricing pressure across the group's commodity starch businesses.
Health and pharma excipients lead the way
Within the Health and Pharma Solutions business unit, reported sales rose 56% to €852 million, with Current EBITDA up 40% to €196 million, representing a margin of 23.0%. The performance was anchored by ethyl cellulosics, oral drug-delivery disintegrant technologies, and the alginates portfolio. These gains more than offset persistent headwinds in the legacy starch and capsules businesses, where competition on polyols and softer HPMC capsule volumes weighed on results.
On a like-for-like basis, Health and Pharma EBITDA contracted 12%, reflecting the impact of plant maintenance and weather-related disruptions affecting alginate raw material supply. Management indicated the capsules equipment phasing effect is expected to reverse in the second half.
The Nutrition and Bioindustry unit saw reported sales ease 2% to €1,888 million, though like-for-like EBITDA rose 8%, helped by a favourable mix shift towards proteins and fibers, and raw material cost declines in China and India. North America remained the unit's most challenged geography, with industrial reliability issues and liquid sugar pricing weighing on fixed-cost absorption.
Deleveraging ahead of schedule
Roquette's balance sheet strengthened materially in the half. Net debt fell to €1,860 million at 30 June 2026, down €530 million from the December 2025 position, partly reflecting the €600 million perpetual hybrid bond issued in April 2026. The restated leverage ratio improved to 2.80x from 3.48x at year-end, moving the group closer to its stated target range of 2.3x to 2.7x by 2027.
Free cash flow, while still negative at -€54 million, improved substantially against the -€150 million recorded in H1 2025 (excluding the IFF Pharma Solutions acquisition cash outflow of €2.4 billion). Inventory reductions of €127 million across both business units were the primary driver.
Market context
Roquette competes in the pharmaceutical excipients market alongside listed peers such as IMCD and specialty chemical companies with dedicated pharma distribution arms, as well as vertically integrated ingredient groups in the cellulose space. The excipients sector has attracted growing investment as drug manufacturers seek to qualify multiple suppliers following post-pandemic supply chain reviews, a trend that has broadened the addressable market for companies with diversified oral-dosage-form portfolios.
Roquette's Shift & Lead programme, which the company said has already delivered more than €60 million in cost savings in a matter of months, is being watched closely by the group's bond investors given the leverage reduction ambition. With the IFF integration now consolidated and the hybrid bond providing capital structure flexibility, the near-term focus will be on like-for-like volume recovery in the commodity starch segment and continued build-out of the proteins and fibers platform, particularly in North America where operational challenges persist.