Beiersdorf cuts sales guidance as Nivea turnaround ‘remains too isolated’

By Lynsey Barber | Published: 3-Aug-2026

The German beauty giant will plough €100m more into Nivea activations to stimulate the heritage brand’s global growth

Beiersdorf has cut its sales guidance for the 2026 financial year in a “difficult market” which has seen its turnaround plans for skin care brand Nivea move more slowly than expected

Organic sales at the German beauty giant’s consumer business division, and across the group, are now expected to decline in the low-single-digit percentage range.

Previously, the Eucerin and La Prairie owner had expected sales to be flat or slightly growing in the 2026 financial year.

Beiersdorf confirmed previous guidance of flat or slightly growing organic sales for the year in its tesa self-adhesive products business division, which includes elastoplast.

“The global skin care market has remained challenging, with further impacts by the Middle East crisis on consumer sentiment, consumption, and costs,” Beiersdorf said in a market update.

“Building on the initial positive effects of Nivea’s rebalancing strategy, the executive board has resolved to launch the next phase of the programme to stimulate Nivea’s growth momentum on a global scale.”

The second phase of Beiersdorf’s turnaround strategy for Nivea will focus on “reigniting growth across all categories, drive volume and penetration through accessibility and fully leverage Nivea’s local relevance”.

Beiersdorf will invest more in consumer-facing activities to support the plans, which are aimed at returning the heritage brand to growth within the next 18 months.

This will put pressure on margins, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin now expected to be 11% for the year in the consumer business division, down from 13.6% in 2025.

Across the group, EBIT margin is expected to be 11.8%, down from 14% in the previous year.

Beiersdorf expects to stabilise its margin and return to net sales growth in 2027, and a return to profitable growth with net sales ahead of the market and margin improvement in 2028.

Beiersdorf H1 2026 performance

The fresh guidance comes as Beiersdorf said sales fell 3.5% to €5bn across the group and declined 4% in its consumer division due to “continued pressure” on Nivea.

“The first half of 2026 showed both the strength of our portfolio and where we need to improve,” said Vincent Warnery, CEO of Beiersdorf.

“Our derma brands continued their multi-year outperformance and La Prairie returned to growth in the second quarter.

“Nivea continued to face challenges, despite the positive signals from the rebalancing measures that we started last year.

“We now take even more decisive action to return Nivea to growth with an 18-month turnaround plan focused on strengthening the brand’s competitiveness across categories, markets and consumer segments.

“To support this plan, we will increase consumer-facing investments into the brand.

“Our number one priority is to return our business back to growth by 2027 and profitable growth from 2028 onwards.”

Beiersdorf’s derma business grew 7.8% in the first half of the year on an organic basis, and outperformed the market despite a “demanding” comparison base.

This was driven by Eucerin and its Epicelline and Thiamidol ingredient innovations, and the company expects Aquaphor’s expansion into the body lotions and creams category to boost the brand’s growth potential.

Sales of premium skin care brand La Prairie declined 6.9% in the first half of the year, with disruptions in US department store channels and travel retail in China.

However, the brand returned to growth in the second quarter with sales up 2.2%.

A new entry line is set to launch in September with the goal of attracting new consumers and expanding distribution.

Nivea turnaround

Sales of Nivea declined 6.8% in the first half of the year, reflecting “temporary sell-in headwinds including customer conflicts, a later than expected sun season start in Europe, as well as trade destocking and innovation phasing effects,” said Beiersdorf in a financial update.

These factors mostly weighed on shipments into trade, however, and sell-out growth remained positive in the period.

“At the same time, the crisis in the Middle East and ongoing challenges related to Nivea’s core portfolio continued to weigh on the brand’s performance,” the update said.

Outlining its plans for the brand’s turnaround over the next 18 months, Beiersdorf said: “The rebalancing strategy that Beiersdorf initiated in the second half of 2025 has delivered initial positive effects on some market share and volume figures.

“While encouraging, these early signals remain too isolated in categories and markets to improve the brand’s performance on a global scale.”

The next phase for Nivea’s turnaround will focus on “reigniting growth through broad-based innovation across all categories, reinforcing the brand’s accessibility to drive penetration and volume growth.”

This will involve more regional tailoring of its offerings to “market-specific consumer needs”.

Beiersdorf will increase its media spend by €100m in the second half of the year, compared to the same period last year.