L’Oréal shares jump after strong Q3 | Progresiv
Shares in L’Oréal rose strongly after the cosmetics giant reported continued improvement in sales, helped by increased demand from China. 
For the three months to 30 September, revenue rose by 6.2% to 6.47 billion euros, while like-for-like sales were up 7.5%. The results were described by CEO Jean-Paul Ago as its “best quarter … in 10 years”, which he attributed largely to the “very strong growth in Asia”. The results helped push shares in the company by nearly 7%.
The growth was led by a 14.8% jump in sales at its Luxe unit (+15.6% like-for-like), which was bolstered by a 9.7% increase at its Active Cosmetics unit (+13.1% LFL), as well as a 1.2% uptick at the core Consumer Products unit (+2.3% LFL). Those results helped offset a 0.7% decline at its Professional Products unit (+1.5% LFL).
Agon noted: “In a beauty market that continues to accelerate, driven by robust growth in skincare, the Group maintains its strong momentum, with contrasted performances between the Divisions … This quarter also confirms the power of our major global brands, which are delivering an excellent performance at a time when the offer in beauty products is particularly rich.”
The group says it does not expect demand from China to taper off, despite the ongoing trade war between China and the US. Talking to CNBC, he noted: “In terms of consumption, at least in our categories … we don’t see any slowdown in the country. “What we see is a great appetite of Chinese consumers. There is also more and more income that has to be spent.” (www.kamcity.com)
