German skincare giant Beiersdorf raised its annual sales guidance today after its main consumer brand business made a solid start to 2024.
Group sales were up 7.3% in organic terms to €2.6bn during the first quarter. Beiersdorf’s Consumer Business division saw double-digit growth of 10.0%, generating sales of €2.2bn.
This was driven by its core NIVEA brand, which recorded a 12.6% increase after seeing “balanced pricing and volume growth”. The strongest performance was recorded in Europe (+13%) and in the Emerging Markets (+14% ).
The group’s derma brands Eucerin and Aquaphor recorded sales growth of 10.2%, driven by strong performance of its Eucerin Sun business, particularly in Europe.
Beiersdorf’s La Prairie brand returned to growth in the quarter with a sales increase of 1%. The group stated that the turnaround of the luxury brand is now gaining momentum, following “challenging external market circumstances” in the previous year.
For the full year, Beiersdorf has upgraded its guidance for the whole group and its Consumer division. It now expects organic sales growth of 6-8%, up from the “mid-single-digit” growth forecast in February. At the same time, the company confirmed its ambition to exceed the previous year’s EBIT margin by 50bps.
Meanwhile, the group’s tesa division saw sales decline 5.4% to €397m in the quarter, with weakness particularly evident in its Electronics operations in Asia and North America. Beiersdorf confirmed that the unit anticipates sales growth of 2-5% over the full year.
Vincent Warnery, the group’s CEO, commented: “Beiersdorf is off to an outstanding start in 2024. All our main Consumer brands achieved growth in the first quarter. The strong double-digit growth at NIVEA drove our portfolio here with sales increases everywhere, especially in Europe and the Emerging Markets. NIVEA also achieved its best quarter ever in terms of absolute value in Q1. This underlines the enduring global popularity of our icon.
“At the same time, our Derma business contributed solid double-digit growth, and the luxury business is on its way toward the expected full turnaround after a challenging year 2023. This performance level in the first quarter is reinforcing our continued aspiration of profitable growth, and we are therefore raising our sales guidance for the full year.”
