L’Oréal is surfing above the beauty market

Excellent summer for L’Oréal. The number one cosmetics company stands out with third-quarter sales up 19.7% to 9.58 billion euros. Much better than the consensus of 9.2 billion euros. The result jumped by +20% compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year.

Despite inflation, its revenues are robust in all its activities: Luxury, consumer products and even in “Active Cosmetics”, this category of dermo-cosmetics, which is still small in the group but which has experienced the most rapid growth.

Around the world, consumer appetite seems intact. At L’Oréal, all geographic areas are up over this period, ensuring the group a successful rebalancing strategy. Europe now stands out as the beauty giant’s leading market despite the backdrop of inflation. “In a context more volatile than ever, marked by health constraints in China and inflation in the Western world, L’Oréal achieved a very solid quarter, continuing a sustained growth rate compared to 2019” welcomed Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oreal.

Currency effects

The number one beauty company also benefited from very favorable exchange rate effects, boosting sales for the first nine months by +8.1%. Over this period, the group’s growth shows an increase of +20.5% as published to more than 27.9 billion euros. A growth higher than that of the market yet already on a good dynamic.

The Luxury division, which topped that of consumer products last year thanks to strong high-end demand, posted nine-month sales of 10.5 billion euros (+22% in data published, +12% like-for-like). It is closely followed by the Consumer division, over nine months up 15.7% to 10.3 billion euros. Perfumes are still experiencing a “beautiful dynamic”, while make-up seems to have ever more followers, including outside luxury. Maybelline has thus stood out in recent months among the most successful brands in the group’s consumer product division in the United States. Her latest mascara has become a bestseller. The United States exceeded 7 billion euros over nine months (+25%).

How to decipher the evolutions of our time?

Ecological transition, inflation, political crises, innovative companies… The news, sometimes brutal or stimulating, is a reflection of our evolving societies. To understand these changes, “Les Echos” is a daily working tool. Thanks to our 200 specialized journalists, we support you every day to shed light on economic, political and international news. Our surveys, analyses, chronicles and editorials are all resources made available to our subscribers to fuel their strategic thinking and help them decipher the complexity of our times.

I discover the offers