L'Oréal beats forecasts with 7.2% like-for-like growth as hair care and fragrance boom

L’Oréal, the world’s largest beauty company, said on Thursday, 22 October, that third-quarter sales rose 11.9% on a reported basis to €11.56 billion — a 7.2% like-for-like gain, against consensus expectations of about 5.4%, WWD reported.

What drove it

Professional Products sales rose 19.1%, and chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus said the group has become the world’s number-one hair care company. Fragrances such as YSL Libre, Lancôme La Vie Est Belle and Prada Paradigme kept growing, and the Luxe division recovered. Europe sales rose 13.2% and the South Asia–Middle East–Africa zone 21%; Latin America was the exception, with problems in Mexico. E-commerce sales grew about 17%.

K-beauty

Asked about Korean beauty, Hieronimus said “the boom is real”, though he estimated K-beauty brands together account for only 3–4% of the global skin care market. L’Oréal expects the beauty market to grow about 5% this year and says it will keep outperforming it.