Mid-year business update: EMEA
Estée Lauder Companies sales drop by 10% for 2023
For the full financial year for 2023 (from June 2022 until June 2023) Estée Lauder Companies experienced a -10% decline in sales, which it said was “primarily driven by Asia travel retail in Hainan and Korea.”
The company said it also faced challenges due to current exchange rates and the acquisition of the Tom Ford brand, which was completed in April this year.
Global skin care net sales fell by -14%. While colour cosmetics sales were virtually flat compared to 2022, although performance did increase each quarter and it saw 13% growth in the fourth quarter.
On a brighter note, net sales for Hair Care rose by 6% and Fragrance sales grew by 14%.
The company was confident that sales would improve, as in the fourth quarter (April – June 2023) it company returned to growth.
For the full year in the EMEA region, net sales decreased by -16%, which the company said was “primarily due to the challenges in Asia travel retail, including the slower than anticipated recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The company saw an increase in net sales in developed EMEA markets driven by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. As well as double digits increases in net sales in nearly EMEA’s emerging markets.
L’Oréal Group sales boosted by Derma Beauty & Consumer Products
For the first six months of 2023, the French beauty multinational posted a net profit of €3.36bn, up by 4% year on year with growth from both volume and value sales.
Overall sales for the L’Oréal Group amassed €20.57bn, up by 12%, with growth in all regions and divisions, record growth in Consumer Products and a strong performance for Dermatological Beauty.
L’Oréal Group said it continued to outperform the global beauty market and that the growth came from both volume and value sales. It also said sales were “balanced between offline and online.”
Globally, L’Oréal’s Consumer Products division saw a record six months, with sales of €7.6bn, up by 13%, and driven by both volume and value. The company said the division increased its sales by around €1bn to achieve this record performance.
While global sales in the Dermatological Beauty Division reached €3.28bn, up by 29.5%.
Europe was the best-performing market, as well as the emerging markets of Mexico, India and Brazil.
Specifically in Europe, L’Oréal sales reached €6.5bn, up by 16.6%. The company saw strong performances in the Germany-Austria-Switzerland cluster, France, the UK, Poland, Turkey and the Nordics. It also said that “growth was fuelled by a sound contribution from value and an increase in volume.”
NIVEA & sunscreen sales compensate for La Prairie losses: Beiersdorf
Beauty and personal care manufacturer Beiersdorf reported sales of €4.9bn for the first half of 2023, up by 12.3% on the same period in 2022 and has raised its sales forecast for the second time this year as a result.
The strong revenue was driven by the global success of NIVEA, which was up by 17.9% year on year, and the dermatological brands Eucerin and Aquaphor, which were up by 26.1% year on year.
All Consumer Business skin care categories posted double-digit growth in the first half of the year, which was led by the sun protection and lip care business.
The business also said it had further expanded its market share for the Derma brands, particularly in the anti-ageing, body care, and sun protection categories.
It also said the travel retail division saw strong momentum in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
However, prestige brand La Prairie saw sales drop by -9.9%, which Beiersdorf attributed to “considerable disruption in Asian travel retail markets caused by “daigou” business.” It said Chantecaille was also affected by this issue.
Coach, Montblanc & Jimmy Choo drive Inter Parfums growth
For the second quarter of the year, French/US fragrance company Inter Parfums saw its net sales increase by 26%, with sales in the Western Europe region also up by 26%.
In Europe, the (72%-owned) French subsidy Inter Parfums SA saw net sales increase by 19%.
Its top three brands were Coach (up 28%), Jimmy Choo (up 16%) and Montblanc (up 21%). Both Montblanc and Jimmy Choo saw sales of over $100m for the first year of 2023.
Lanvin also gained a mention for achieving modest growth in Q2 without any new launches, and Rochas, which saw strong sales for its new launch Eau de Rochas and relaunch of Rochas Girl Life.
The company’s CEO noted that more people were wearing multiple fragrances and that men’s scent was more popular than ever.
Inter Parfums said it now has a pipeline of releases for Europe, including new entries for the Karl Lagerfeld Les Parfums Matières collection and the debut of a new member of the Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire. It also plans to distribute Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce in select markets due to its popularity.
This year it had also signed new deals with Lacoste and Roberto Cavalli, which it said it was currently “strategising and building out the products, promotions, advertising and launch schedule for.”
LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics growth driven by Sephora and Christian Dior
The French luxury goods group recorded revenue of €42.2bn for its half-year results.
It saw a slowdown in growth for its half-year results for 2023 compared to the previous quarter, but overall was still up by 15% on the same period in 2022.
Makeup and fragrance continued to be a strong point for the group, which it said was” supported by a highly selective and high-quality distribution policy.”
Its Perfumes & Cosmetics business group recorded organic revenue growth of 13% in the first half of 2023. Profit from recurring operations was up 15%.
Christian Dior had a strong quarter and the company said it was “strengthening its leadership in its strategic markets”.
Sephora also saw impressive sales in the quarter and continued to gain market share. LVMH said that momentum was particularly strong for Sephora in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Also, that its distribution network continued to expand, especially in the UK where its first store had proved a huge success. It plans to open a second store in the UK this November in London’s Westfield Stratford City shopping centre.
Sol de Janeiro & Elemis drive L’Occitane growth
Multinational beauty company the L’Occitane Group shared its financial results for its ‘FY2024 Q1’ and Gen Z favourite Sol de Janeiro was a standout star in the quarter, which ended on 30th June 2023.
Overall, the group saw net sales of €502.2m, an increase of 20.2%.
Sol de Janeiro's sales rose by 171% to €113m.
Skin care and body care brand ELEMIS also recorded double-digit growth in the quarter, with sales increasing 23.6% (at a constant rate). The brand’s largest markets, the UK and the US, grew 27.9% and 19.9% respectively, both “driven by solid online growth with a reduced value offering,” according to the company.
Regionally, EMEA returned to a positive growth of 6.4% at constant rates, mainly due to ELEMIS’ strong UK sales and healthy results for Erborian.
Beauty & personal care sales fuel Unilever growth
For the first half of 2023, Unilever saw sales growth of 9.1% with 0.2% from volumes. The group turnover increased by 2.7% to €30.4bn.
Its Beauty and Wellbeing division saw success with sales up 8.6% at €6.2bn and Personal Care was up by 7.3% at €6.9bn.
The company said although much of the growth was generated by price increases, it still experienced reasonable increases in volume sales.
Hair Care, Core Skin Care and Skin Cleansing all grew in single digits. Deodorants grew in double digits, as did Prestige Beauty, with science-led brands Paula’s Choice, Dermalogica and HourGlass all seeing a strong quarter.
