Beiersdorf Stays Steady In Its Q1 2014 Results

Beiersdorf’s first-quarter results for 2014 underline the continuation of last year’s strong business performance. The company delivered organic sales growth of 6.7%, and in nominal terms, sales increased by 1.2% from €1.577 billion to €1.596 billion. Both business segments contributed to the positive performance.

“We are very satisfied with our business performance in the first three months. We continued the company’s steady upward trend, delivered strong sales growth and continued to gain market share in our relevant markets and key categories,” said Stefan F. Heidenreich, CEO of Beiersdorf.

The consumer business segment recorded organic sales growth of 6.3% in the first quarter of the year. In nominal terms, sales increased by 0.4%, from €1.318 billion to €1.323 billion. The key drivers underlying this strong sales growth were the company’s healthy performance in emerging markets and positive growth rates in the saturated European markets. Its Nivea delivered 7.6% sales growth, Eucerin 10.3%, and La Prairie 3.4%. And in Europe, sales grew by 0.9%, up slightly on the prior year. Western Europe recorded a sales increase of 0.9% while sales in Eastern Europe were up 0.7% compared to prior year. Sales in the Americas region recorded a healthy 6.9% increase, where Latin America saw sales growth of 6.5% and North America continued to develop well with 7.5% growth. The Africa/Asia/Australia region saw double-digit sales growth of 17.5%.

The company also confirmed its outlook for 2014, expecting sales growth in the consumer business segment to outperform the market in 2014, at a level of 4–6%. The EBIT margin from operations should slightly exceed the prior-year figure. And based on the forecasts for the two business segments (consumer business and its teas segment), Beiersdorf expects group sales to grow by 4–6%.

Additional details on Beiersdorf’s Q1 2014 financial results are available here.

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