Consumers wearing makeup and perfume again as they headed back to offices and attended social events has helped L’Oréal post strong third-quarter figures ahead of market expectations.
The French group’s total like-for-like sales over the 13 weeks to 30 September jumped 13.1%. Analysts had been forecasting a rise of around 8%.
The owner of brands such as Lancome and Garnier saw the best performance coming from is Active (+28.4%) and Luxe (+20.7%) divisions as demand rose in the key markets of the US and China. Sales of Professional Products rose 10.3%, whilst Consumer Products rose a more subdued 3.2% as the reopening of beauty and hair salons meant consumers bought fewer at-home products.
L’Oréal’s bounce back since its troubles during the height of the pandemic means its sales are now 9.3% ahead of the comparable first nine months of 2019.
Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal, said: “Since the start of the pandemic, L’Oréal has been constantly gaining strength and is ideally positioned to continue to grow at its pre-crisis pace. We are more confident than ever in this growth momentum.
“In an environment which remains uncertain, our performance in the third quarter strengthens our ambition to outperform the market and achieve a year of growth in both sales and profits.”
