L’Oréal Q3 profits fall 0.8%
The company claimed the cause of the fall was due to unfavourable exchange rates
French cosmetics giant L’Oréal has registered a rare contraction of 0.8% in profits for the third quarter of this year. The firm said, however, that its end-of-year target remains the same.
The company claimed the cause of the fall, to €5.48bn, was due to unfavourable exchange rates as well as a slowdown in North America and stocking by some distributors.
Sales increased by 4.1% over the quarter, the group said in a statement. Financial paper Bloomberg had predicted growth of 4.9%. "The economic environment is marked by some uncertainty about market developments and the negative impact of currency," said CEO Jean-Paul Agon in a statement. “Our growth prospects, supported by innovations (...) and combined with a targeted acquisition strategy can look to the future with confidence.”
The view of market analysts was somewhat different. “We feared a weak quarter, but this is weaker than expected. North America is the trouble spot,” Eamonn Ferry of Exane BNP Paribas in London told Bloomberg.