FRANCE: L’Oreal disappoints in Q3 as luxury demand slows | Progresiv
L’Oreal has reported lower-than-expected sales growth for its fiscal third quarter, hurt by lower demand for its luxury brands. However, the group said its year-to-date growth was “strong”, adding that it expects again outperform the beauty market for the full year. 
For the three months to 30 September, sales were up 10.1% to 5.94 billion euros, although they were up just +3.7% on an organic basis. Sales at its Cosmetics Division grew by 10.1% to 5.73 billion euros (+3.8% organic), while The Body Shop reported a 11.6% increase to 212.5 million euros (+0.5% organic).
Sales in Western Europe were up just 4.4% to 1.9 billion (+2.5% organic), while North America saw its sales surge up 22.5% to 1.6 billion (+3.8%) due to the strength of the dollar. The group also recorded solid organic growth in Eastern Europe (+9.4%), but was hurt by weakness in the Middle East (+4.4% organic) and Asia-Pacific (+3.3% organic).
The L’Oréal Luxe division experienced a “temporary slowdown as a result of market turbulence over the summer”. CEO Jean-Paul Agon said it reported weaker demand from “Chinese consumers outside China and it was generally Hong Kong and travel retail”. Sales at its travel retail outlets grew by just 1%, compared to double-digit growth previously, but Agon said the group has “good reason to believe it was a temporary slowdown”. (www.kamcity.com)
