L\'Oreal Q1 results up 9.4%
Growth fuelled by strength in the luxury products market
L'Oréal has produced a sparkling first quarter 2012 with group sales up 9.4% at €5.6bn. Organic growth was some 6.4% compared with 5.8% in the same, year-earlier quarter and 5.1% in the final quarter of 2011.
Growth has been fuelled by a sharp acceleration in the luxury products market in both Asia and the US. President Jean-Paul Agon said the figures augur well for the current year and he estimates world cosmetics market growth in 2012 at around 4%. L'Oréal's results reflect the high-level performance of its luxury-end products division - YSL Beauté, Armani, Lancôme and Kiehl's - with year-on-year growth of 12.2%. Lancôme has benefited from profitable sales of its anti-aging products Génefique and Visionnaire which have propelled sales growth to 14% while YSL has achieved double-digit growth helped by sales of its Pur Couture lipstick.
The group's mass-market arm (L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier) posted sales up 5.1% while sales to professional hairdressing salons rose 3.1%.
Accelerating demand pushed the emerging markets area into first place as a source of sales but L'Oréal was able to improve its performance in regional markets with the exception of Latin America. Organic growth in the US was 6.6% compared with 5.6% in the final quarter of last year while Asian sales rose 15.5% compared with 12.7% in the earlier period. Growth in eastern Europe was a modest 2.1% but sales fell back in Latin America, rising by 8.5% compared with 10.9% in fourth quarter 2011.