PARIS, France: French cosmetics giant L’Oréal on Thursday reported a year-on-year rise in first-quarter sales as activity in Europe and emerging markets offset dull conditions in China’s beauty industry.
Sales in the first three months of this year rose 8.3 percent to 11.24 billion euros (about $12 billion), even as the North Asian market fell by about 4 percent to 2.7 billion euros.
The figure beat analysts’ expectations for the group, which includes brands Garnier, Maybelline, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent.
While it posted double-digit growth in Japan and Hong Kong, the “beauty market” remained weak in mainland China, where sales rose just 6.2 percent, the company said in a statement.
Sales in Europe increased by more than 12% and sales in North America increased by 11.9%, thanks mainly to new IT systems.
L’Oreal chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus said in an environment that continues to be marked by economic and geopolitical tensions, they are optimistic about the outlook for the beauty market, and confident in ability to keep outperforming it.
