Beiersdorf AG’s recently held its annual general meeting in Germany. Stefan F. Heidenreich, chairman of the executive board, opened the meeting by saying, “There is plenty of good news to report. Firstly, Beiersdorf met all of its business targets for 2012 in full. This success is based on our strategic focus, our excellent products and innovations, and our employees’ ability to deliver a strong performance.”
The strong performance by Beiersdorf’s shares was one of the positive news items from 2012. After a slight decline at the start of the year, the stock saw significant gains over the course of the year, ending the year up more than 40%. Progress was also made in the four core areas of the company’s“Blue Agenda,” which Beiersdorf notes as its strategic compass. “We significantly strengthened Nivea’s brand profile, filling it with new life,” explained Heidenreich. “The new, unmistakable design for our core brand is based on a key part of its brand identity—the blue tin. In addition, we extended our presence in the emerging markets and increased our innovative power. We also put a great deal of work into streamlining our organization and speeding up processes.”
The consumer business segment also generated sales of €5,048 million in 2012, which represents organic growth of 4.9% and nominal growth of 7.5%.
In discussing the company’s outlook for 2013, Heidenreich commented, “Despite our positive overall performance, we know that this is only the start of a longer journey. We have seen the first fruits of our labors. But we still have a lot to do before we reach our goal. Nevertheless, what we have achieved in the past year allows us to tackle the challenges of the future with confidence in ourselves and in our abilities. We expect macroeconomic conditions to remain difficult in many countries. We anticipate slight growth in the industrialized nations, while the developing and emerging countries should continue to see dynamic economic growth. Taking into account the varying market trends in different regions, we expect the Beiersdorf’s group sales to outperform the market in 2013. In the consumer business segment, we are aiming for sales growth to outperform the market.”
