L’Oreal SA sales climbed as the cosmetics giant benefited from higher demand for its luxury products, weathering COVID-19 restrictions in China.
Sales rose almost 14 percent on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of this year, the French company said late on Tuesday, beating analyst estimates.
Three of the four main divisions grew by double-digit percentages.
Photo: Reuters
The luxury unit, which includes skincare brands like Helena Rubinstein and Yves Saint Laurent perfume, grew by almost 18 percent. Total sales at the premium unit surpassed the mass-market consumer products business for the first time last year. The latter unit grew 6.9 percent during the quarter.
L’Oreal experienced supply issues that would not be fully solved by the second quarter, chief executive officer Nicolas Hieronimus told analysts in a call.
He forecast that the beauty market would grow 4 and 5 percent this year, with L’Oreal outperforming this growth.
L’Oreal would be able to fully offset the input cost increases of its products, which would affect its gross margin in the first half, chief financial officer Christophe Babule said during the call.
That is despite measures to increase product prices, especially for new launches, as well as a reduction of advertisement and promotional spending as a percentage of total sales, he said.
L’Oreal in China had double-digit percentage growth during the first quarter, outperforming the market in the country thanks to marketing campaigns for the Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Women’s Day, the statement said.
Although current lockdowns are affecting demand, Babule said he is confident that Chinese consumers’ appetite for cosmetics can recover quickly once virus restrictions ease, as happened two years ago.
Hieronimus said the group is still selling essential products in Russia.
“We’re taking all the appropriate measures to offset any reputational risks” related to the company’s presence there, he added. “Should the situation warrant it, we’ll make adjustments.”
Last month, L’Oreal announced that it was temporarily shutting stores as well as its e-commerce site in Russia, even though its plant near Moscow remained open for business. Russia represents about 1.5 percent of total sales for L’Oreal.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS