L'Oréal sales in the first six months of 2024 totaled 22.12 billion euros, up 7.5% in reported figures, driven by a boom in dermatological beauty and a rebound in makeup, among other key factors. Of the results, Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal, said, "Our continued strong momentum in emerging markets, Europe and North America allowed us to more than offset the depressed beauty market in mainland China and the unfavorable comparative in travel retail."
Dermatological Beauty Booms for L'Oreal
Dermatological beauty sales growth spiked 16.4% like-for-like/15.5% as reported, driven by North Asia, particularly SkinCeuticals and CeraVe expansions in China.
Other drivers included La Roche-Posay's MelaB3, Vichy's double-digit growth and Skinbetter Science.
Professional Division Defies China Decline
Notably, the company's growth followed commentary from Hieronimus pointing to slowing global beauty market growth.
Professional product sales were up 4.9% on a reported basis, driven by growth in North Asia, including China, as well as Latin America.
Hair care results were powered by Kérastase Première, L’Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular, Redken's Acidic Bonding Concentrate and Acidic Color Gloss, Shades EQ, and more.
The division will be launching a new dryer, AirLight Pro, soon, signaling future potential for the division's growth.
Makeup and L'Oreal Paris Grow in Double Digits for Consumer Division
The consumer products division experienced 8.3%growth, driven by Durope, Brazil, Mexico and India, as well as L’Oréal Paris, which grew in double digits.
Other highlights included the Elvive Glycolic Gloss, double digit growth in makeup, the launch of Bright reveal and the expansion of Mixa in Europe.
Luxe Results Driven by Fragrance, North America & More
The L’Oréal luxe division grew sales by 2.3% like-for-like/4.0% reported, with growth speeding up in Q2. Key drivers included Europe and double-digit gains in North America.
Travel retail is reportedly improving, per the company, while fragrance results were boosted by Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Maison Margiela and Prada, as well as Azzaro.
Makeup results were enhanced by Yves Saint Laurent, Armani and Urban Decay.
An Optimistic Look Ahead
Commenting on these figures, Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal, said:
In the first half, we delivered strong growth of +7.3%, well-balanced between value and volume and strengthened our global leadership in a beauty market that remains dynamic.
Our continued strong momentum in emerging markets, Europe and North America allowed us to more than offset the depressed beauty market in mainland China and the unfavorable comparative in Travel Retail. In this context, I am particularly pleased to see the acceleration of L’Oréal Luxe, the dynamism of Consumer Products and the continued share gains of Dermatological Beauty and Professional Products.
The combination of our powerful R&I and unique marketing creativity allowed us to offer consumers groundbreaking innovations. The consistent increase of our A&P spend to support these innovations and our 37 international brands allowed us to, once again, outpace the global beauty market.
In an environment that continues to be marked by economic and geopolitical tensions, we remain optimistic about the outlook for the beauty market and confident that our innovation power and the robustness of our multi-polar model will allow us to keep outperforming it and to achieve another year of growth in sales and profit.
