L’Oréal Q3 Sales Rise 6.2%
PARIS — L’Oréal posted a 6.2 percent sales rise in the third quarter of 2018, bolstered by its Luxe and Active Cosmetics divisions.
In the three months ended Sept. 30, the company registered its highest quarterly growth rate in a decade.
“In a beauty market that continues to accelerate, driven by robust growth in skin care, the group maintains its strong momentum, with contrasted performances between the divisions,” said Jean-Paul Agon, L’Oréal chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement released Tuesday. “L’Oréal Luxe is showing dynamic growth, underpinned in particular by its four biggest brands — Lancôme, Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Kiehl’s. The Active Cosmetics division, which continues to post double-digit growth, is being driven worldwide by consumer aspirations for dermo-cosmetics and the quality of its brand portfolio.
“The Consumer Products Division is held back by persistent difficulties in some countries,” he continued. “The L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline New York brands are, however, maintaining their good momentum. The performance of the Professional Products Division, which is continuing its transformation, is stable.”
Agon said L’Oréal’s major global brands “are delivering an excellent performance at a time when the offer in beauty products is particularly rich.”
Sales in New Markets began accelerating again, and L’Oréal growth in Asia — particularly China — is rapid. “The pace of growth remains moderate in North America, while the situation of sales in Western Europe is still difficult, particularly in the United Kingdom,” the executive said.
L’Oréal’s gains in the travel-retail channel were 29.9 percent on a like-for-like basis.
“The acceleration in the growth of the group, combined with that of the market, is also the result of L’Oréal’s lead in digital beauty, particularly in e-commerce, which has grown by 38.3 percent and represents 9.7 percent of sales,” said Agon.
In the first nine months of 2018, L’Oréal sales were up 1.8 percent in reported terms and 6.8 percent on a like-for-like basis to 19.86 billion euros.
“Overall, L’Oréal’s good performance during the quarter and in the first nine months reinforces our confidence in the dynamism of the cosmetics market and in our ability to outperform it, in order to achieve significant like-for-like sales growth this year, together with an increase in our profitability,” said Agon.
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