L’Oréal Group reported 1.6% sales growth during the first half of the year to reach $25.94 billion in global sales. Like-for-like growth accelerated from 2.6% in the first quarter to 3.7% in the second, according to the company’s earnings report released on Tuesday.
Professional products were a bright spot, as was fragrance and returned growth in China. All divisions of the company grew within the first half.
“The ongoing strength in emerging markets, the slight rebound in mainland China and the gradual recovery in North America more than offset the expected slowdown in Europe, once again validating our multi-polar model,” Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal, said in a statement. “The acceleration was supported by a gradual improvement in [the] global beauty market growth, which we expect to continue in the next two quarters.”
L’Oréal Group is the largest beauty conglomerate in the world based on revenue and currently has 37 global brands in its roster. The company acquired Medik8 skin care and Color Wow hair care during the first half.
Professional product sales, which includes Kérastase, L’Oréal Professionnel, Redken and Matrix, were up 4.9% while consumer products were up just 1.1% during the first half of the year.
According to the company, Kérastase had a runaway first half with strong sales on new franchises like Genesis by Kérastase and Gloss Absolu by Kérastase. Other professional wins included Metal Detox by L’Oréal Professionnel, Acidic Bonding Concentrate by Redken and Food for Soft by Matrix.
Dermalogical beauty, a regular bright spot, was up 1.7%, a tumble compared to the full year 2024. Dermalogical beauty offerings from La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals and Skinbetter Science helped to drive the conglomerate’s 5.1% growth for its full fiscal year 2024 in February. The Dermatological Beauty Division grew 9.8% like-for-like and 9.3% reported in 2024.
By region, SAPMENA–SSA won the first half with a 9.2% sales jump. This encompasses South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, North Asia, which includes Mainland China, was down 1.5%. Europe was up 3.4% while North America was up just 0.4%. Latin America sunk 1.0%
“I am confident that we will continue to outperform the global beauty market, which we expect to grow, even amidst the current economic and geopolitical tensions, and to achieve another year of growth in sales and an increase in our profitability,” Hieronimus said.
