German flavour and fragrance maker Symrise on Wednesday posted a jump in first-quarter sales broadly in line with forecasts, citing robust demand across the board as it continued to offset inflation with increased prices.

Symrise, whose fragrances go into the perfumes of French luxury giants LVMH and Kering, has continued to raise selling prices this year to offset energy and raw material inflation, as it bets on the high-margin pet food ingredients business to drive growth.

Its January-March revenue rose 12.8 percent in reporting currency to €1.23 billion ($1.35 billion), a touch above analysts’ average forecast of €1.22 billion in a company-provided poll.

“Despite high inflation and continued volatility in our markets, we are optimistic about the rest of the year and expect robust demand,” chief executive officer Heinz-Juergen Bertram said in a statement.

Sales in the Taste, Nutrition & Health business, which includes pet food ingredients, rose 15.6 percent to €776.1 million in the first quarter.

The pet food sub-division continued to record high double-digit growth rates, the group said.

Symrise also confirmed its 2023 targets for organic sales growth of between 5 percent and 7 percent and an EBITDA margin of around 20 percent.

Its shares were indicated to be up 1.5 percent in premarket trade.

By Jagoda Darlak and Anastasiia Kozlova; Editor Milla Nissi

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