Coty CEO: sales grow as “consumers prioritise beauty as a fundamental pillar of wellbeing”

09-Feb-2024 - Last updated on 09-Feb-2024 at 15:13 GMT

The Burberry Goddess fragrance has been a bestseller for Coty

The French American beauty company Coty saw its sales up 13% on a like-for-like basis (LFL) for the second quarter of its fiscal year, and up by 14% LFL for the first half.

Its Prestige business was especially successful, and revenue grew by 15% (LFL) in Q2 and 18% (LFL) for the first half of the financial year, which CEO Sue Nabi said was “outperforming the market.”

The multinational said that its Burberry Goddess fragrance, which launched last summer, continued to set new records and became the top seller in multiple markets.

Burberry’s Hero and Her scents also saw strong market share gains across the globe for the Burberry brand. While the Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Chloé, Marc Jacobs and Davidoff fragrance brands all saw double digit growth in the first half.

For Colour Cosmetics in Q2, Kylie, Burberry and Gucci all saw double digit growth; and in the Skincare category, Coty’s relaunched brands Lancaster and philosophy continued their positive momentum.

In the earnings call, Coty CEO Sue Nabi said that Prestige revenue growth and sell-out are continuing to outperform the very strong prestige fragrance market. “While the prestige fragrance market grew close to 10% in both Q1 and Q2, our sell-out in both quarters outperformed, growing 12% to 13%. At the same time, our like-for-like revenue growth was higher, as we benefitted from the year-on-year recovery in fragrance service levels following the supply challenges last year. We estimate this benefit to be in the low-to-mid-single-digits percentage.”

"Affordable luxuries and forms of self-expression"

Meanwhile Consumer Beauty was up by 5% (LFL) for Q2 and 7% (LFL) for the first half and strong figures for colour cosmetics, mass fragrances, and mass skin & body care sales.

The company said it had “continued to lean into its social media strategy”, which led to improvements in earned media value and viral launches such as CoverGirl Yummy Gloss and Rimmel Thrill Seeker mascara.

E-commerce grew by 20% overall for the first half.

And all regions saw double digit revenue growth in the quarter.

Speaking on the overall performance, Nabi said: “The momentum of the global beauty market in the midst of geopolitical and macroeconomic disruptions confirms that consumers continue to gravitate to and prioritise beauty as a fundamental pillar of their well-being.”

She continued: “Worldwide, consumers continue to purchase fragrances, cosmetics, skin and body care both as affordable luxuries and forms of self-expression. This is particularly true for mid to higher income consumers, resulting in the continued outperformance of luxury beauty.”