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Almost all the external insulation fitted under the previous government’s energy efficiency scheme was installed so poorly it will have to be repaired or replaced, an investigation has found.

Thousands of homeowners who took advantage of the home insulation schemes have been left with incompetently fitted cladding that in some cases is likely to cause damp and mould.

Of the roughly 23,000 homes fitted with external wall insulation under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), 98% need repairs, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) investigation.

A further 9,000 to 13,000 homes fitted with internal insulation also have major problems – 29% of those who had these works carried out, the NAO said.

And more than 3,000 installations of both kinds are likely to pose health and safety risks that need immediate remediation.

“The report reveals a system that has let cowboys through the front door,” said Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, “leaving thousands of victims living in misery and undermining public trust in efforts to tackle the cold, damp homes crisis facing many households.”

He added: “Insulation and ventilation, when done properly, are among the safest and most effective ways to bring down energy bills and keep people warm. But substandard delivery and weak oversight by the last government has turned what should have been a national success story into a cautionary tale.

“Now we need to fix the system, not abandon it.”

The ECO and GBIS initiatives sought to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions across Britain by requiring energy companies to fund the installation of energy efficiency measures in homes.

But, the NAO said, weak government oversight and inadequate audit and monitoring led to thousands of poor-quality installations, leaving homes at risk from damp, mould, blocked ventilation shafts and exposed electrical cabling.

As a result of poorly executed works, homeowners were left unable to remortgage or sell homes, with insulation so badly fitted it could make cold, damp conditions worse. In January, almost 40 companies were blocked from installing insulation as part of the schemes as the outcry grew over the substandard works.

“People’s homes and lives have been damaged by these faulty installations, many living in fuel poverty, and lots have faced very difficult times as a result,” said Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

The NAO said: “The government created an overly complex system that ultimately failed.” It blamed “unclear and fragmented roles, responsibilities and accountabilities” among the scheme providers, the certification bodies, the regulator Ofgem, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Installers were able to “game” the audit process either by being certified by multiple certification bodies or transferring their certification between bodies, meaning they would have less history with each.

Fraudsters were also able to scam millions out of the scheme, the NAO report revealed. Last November, Ofgem estimated that retrofit businesses had falsified claims for ECO installations in between 5,600 and 16,500 homes, potentially claiming between £56m and £165m from energy suppliers.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, the chair of the Commons’ public accounts committee, which oversees the NAO, described the “failures” of the retrofitting schemes as “stark”.

“Despite allegations of fraud, lack of sufficient quality data means that overall levels of fraud in ECO remain unknown,” he said. “DESNZ and Ofgem have been quick to act after becoming aware of widespread problems, but their efforts remain hampered by weak government oversight and an overly complex consumer protection system.

“It is imperative that households receive clarity on how they can fix their homes and a system is put in place whereby these failings do not recur.”

Installers are liable for the whole cost of putting right any faulty insulation installations under the scheme. Affected households have been encouraged to contact Ofgem.

The minister for energy consumers, Martin McCluskey, said: “Today’s report shows unacceptable, systemic failings in the installation of solid wall insulation in these schemes, which have directly affected tens of thousands of families.”

He said the government had taken “decisive action” to protect households and ensure all poor installations of solid wall insulation were fixed at no cost to the consumer.

“We are fixing the broken system the last government left by introducing comprehensive reforms to make this process clear and straightforward, and in the rare cases where things go wrong, there will be clear lines of accountability, so consumers are guaranteed to get any problems fixed quickly,” McCluskey said.

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to article 53 LR

“We are very pleased with our continued good sales performance in the first nine months of 2025, against very strong prior year comparables. The natural hedges of Givaudan continue to support our strong performance across business segments, geographies and customer groups, despite the ongoing geopolitical, trade and macroeconomic challenges. Givaudan remains highly focused on supporting our customers’ growth in developing innovative products which consumers love.”

Gilles Andrier, CEO

Sales performance

In the first nine months of 2025 Givaudan recorded sales of CHF 5,743 million, an increase of 5.7% on a like-for-like¹ (LFL) basis and an increase of 1.7% in Swiss francs.

Givaudan continued the first nine months of the year with good volume growth and maintained its operations and global supply chain at a high level.

With higher input costs in 2025, including tariffs, the Company is implementing price increases in collaboration with its customers to fully compensate for the increases in input costs.

The good growth was supported by the 8.1% LFL in the high growth markets, the continued outperformance of local and regional customers across the group and the sustained strong performance of Fine Fragrance.

Fragrance & Beauty sales were CHF 2,923 million, an increase of 8.0% LFL and an increase of 5.1% in Swiss francs.

On a business unit basis, Fine Fragrance sales increased by 18.7% LFL against a high prior year comparable growth of 17.8%, and Consumer Products sales increased by 5.9% LFL against a strong prior year comparable growth of 15.9%. Sales of Fragrance Ingredients and Active Beauty increased by 1.5% LFL, with strong double-digit growth in Active Beauty offset by weaker performance in Fragrance Ingredients.

Taste & Wellbeing sales were CHF 2,820 million, an increase of 3.4% LFL and a decrease of -1.5% in Swiss francs.

On a regional basis, sales increased in South Asia, Middle East and Africa by 8.8% LFL, in Europe by 3.8% LFL, in North America by 3.9% LFL and in Latin America by 3.1% LFL. Sales decreased in Asia Pacific by -0.5% LFL. Within the product segments, there was broad based good growth in health care, snacks, sweet goods, and in dairy.

Our mid and long term ambitions

Our 2025 strategy, ‘Committed to Growth, with Purpose’, is our intention to deliver growth in partnership with our customers, through creating inspiring products for happier, healthier lives and having a positive impact on nature, people and communities.

Ambitious targets are an integral part of this strategy, with the Company aiming to achieve organic sales growth of 4–5% on a like-for-like basis and free cash flow² of at least 12%, both measured as an average over the five-year period strategy cycle. In addition, we aim to deliver on key non-financial targets around sustainability, diversity and safety, linked to Givaudan’s purpose.

With average like-for-like sales growth of 7.2% for the period 2021–2024 and the continued strong like-for-like growth in the first nine months of 2025 of 5.7%, Givaudan is highly likely to exceed the upper end of its average five-year sales growth target of 4–5% on a like-for-like basis for the period 2021–2025.

Our bold and ambitious long-term purpose goals are defined in four domains: creations, nature, people and communities. Our ambitions include doubling our business through creations that contribute to happier, healthier lives by 2030, becoming climate positive before 2050, becoming a leading employer for inclusion before 2025 and sourcing all materials and services in a way that protects the environment and people by 2030.

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Further information

Upcoming events
Full year results – 29 January 2026

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Contact
Claudia Pedretti, Head of Investor and Media Relations
T +41 52 354 01 32
E claudia.pedretti@givaudan.com

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Key tables

Sales performance for the nine month period ended September

	2025			2024
January to September In millions of Swiss francs	Group	Fragrance & Beauty	Taste &  Wellbeing	Group	Fragrance & Beauty	Taste & Wellbeing
Sales as reported	5,743	2,923	2,820	5,644	2,782	2,862
– growth in CHF (%)	1.7%	5.1%	-1.5%	7.2%	10.8%	3.9%
like-for-like¹ (%)	5.7%	8.0%	3.4%	13.0%	15.6%	10.7%
Acquisition impact (net) (a)	41	42	-1	17	26	-9
– acquisition impact (net) (%)	0.7%	1.5%	0.0%	0.3%	1.0%	-0.3%
Currency effects	-262	-123	-139	-324	-146	-178
– currency effects (%)	-4.7%	-4.4%	-4.9%	-6.1%	-5.8%	-6.5%

(a) Acquisitions and divestments

	2025			2024
January to September In millions of Swiss francs	Group	Fragrance & Beauty	Taste & Wellbeing	Group	Fragrance & Beauty	Taste & Wellbeing
Acquisitions and divestments	41	42	-1	17	26	-9
– Vollmens	2	2
– b.kolor	40	40		20	20
– Amyris				6	6
– Discontinued and disposed business	-1		-1	-9		-9

Sales performance for the three month period ended September

	2025			2024
Quarter only In millions of Swiss francs	Group	Fragrance  & Beauty	Taste &  Wellbeing	Group	Fragrance  & Beauty	Taste &  Wellbeing
Sales as reported	1,879	968	911	1,907	956	951
– growth in CHF (%)	-1.5%	1.3%	-4.3%	10.2%	13.9%	6.8%
– like-for-like¹ (%)	4.4%	6.8%	2.1%	14.1%	16.0%	12.4%
Acquisition impact (net) (b)	2	2		19	20	-1
– acquisition impact (net) (%)	0.1%	0.2%	0.0%	1.1%	2.4%	-0.1%
Currency effects	-115	-55	-60	-87	-37	-50
– currency effects (%)	-6.0%	-5.7%	-6.4%	-5.0%	-4.5%	-5.5%

(b) Acquisitions and divestments

	2025			2024
Quarter only In millions of Swiss francs	Group	Fragrance  & Beauty	Taste &  Wellbeing	Group	Fragrance  & Beauty	Taste &  Wellbeing
Acquisitions and divestments	2	2		19	20	-1
– Vollmens	2	2
– b.kolor				20	20
– Discontinued and disposed business				-1		-1

Sales performance by business activity

	2025	2024
January to September in %	Sales growth LFL¹	Sales growth LFL¹
Fragrance & Beauty	8.0%	15.6%
– Fine Fragrance	18.7%	17.8%
– Consumer Products	5.9%	15.9%
– Fragrance Ingredients and Active Beauty	1.5%	10.8%
Taste & Wellbeing	3.4%	10.7%
– Europe	3.8%	6.3%
– South Asia, Middle East and Africa	8.8%	17.9%
– North America	3.9%	5.1%
– Latin America	3.1%	28.9%
– Asia Pacific	-0.5%	10.1%

Sales performance by geography

	2025			2024
January to September In millions of Swiss francs	Sales reported	LFL¹ %	CHF %	Sales reported	LFL¹ %	CHF %
LATAM	643	5.7%	-4.3%	672	29.5%	5.7%
APAC	1,366	4.6%	-0.5%	1,373	12.1%	7.0%
NOAM	1,328	3.5%	0.3%	1,323	5.7%	3.9%
EAME	2,406	7.6%	5.7%	2,276	13.1%	9.8%
High growth markets	2,787	8.1%	6.5%	2,618	20.9%	10.5%
Mature markets	2,956	3.4%	-2.4%	3,026	6.6%	4.5%
Total Group	5,743	5.7%	1.7%	5,644	13.0%	7.2%