Beiersdorf sees growth in all markets but China in full-year 2016 | Progresiv
Skincare giant Beiersdorf has posted sales growth in all of its key markets except for China in full-year 2016, as the producer of Nivea announced organic sales growth of 3.2%, to 6.75 billion euros. 
In Europe, the group saw 2.0% sales growth, with its Western European consumer business rising by 1.0%, compared to the previous year, driven by strong performance in Germany, Spain and the UK.
Its Eastern European consumer-business segment posted a 6.6% increase in sales, thanks to a strong business performance in Russia and Poland, while in the Americas, sales were up 2.9%.
China, where Beiersdorf said that sales remained below those of the previous year, was the only blip on its copybook, with its wider Africa/Asia/Australia region seeing sales rise by 5.7%.
"This growth was mainly driven by a strong business performance in Japan, India, South Africa and Australia," the company said.
“For Beiersdorf, 2016 was another very successful year,” said Stefan F. Heidenreich, its CEO.
“We earned the highest EBIT and EBIT margin in the company’s history. Last year, we were among the few companies that increased their earnings guidance in the course of the year. Contrary to the general market trend in the industry, we experienced strong growth, especially in the fourth quarter. Although the environment will remain tough, we look to fiscal year 2017 with cautious optimism.”
Group EBIT at Beiersdorf stood at 1.015 billion euros for the year, with an EBIT margin of 15%. Its profit after tax was 727 million euros, up from 671 million euros a year earlier.
In a statement, Beiersdorf said that it expects the consumer-business segment to outperform the market in 2017, with sales growth of 3%-4%. The EBIT margin from operations is expected to slightly exceed the prior-year figure.(www.esmmagazine.com)
