Financial focus: Beiersdorf, L’Oreal, Amorepacific in our beauty business update

L’Oréal CEO sees ‘clear signs’ of consumption recovery in China​​

L’Oréal chief says consumer consumption and confidence are improving in China but cautions that the recovery process will be slower than expected.

In April, the French beauty giant reported a sluggish market in China. In the second quarter (Q2), growth returned to the mid-teens.

Overall, the market grew by more than 7% in the first half ending June 2023.

Beiersdorf Q2: NIVEA Japan records ‘strongest quarter’ on the back on sun and lip care​

German personal care brand NIVEA recorded strong growth in the second quarter (Q2) fuelled by innovation in sun and lip care products, with Japan performing particularly well.

The Beiersdorf-owned brand NIVEA recorded 13.9% growth in Japan in Q2 alone.

Beiersdorf CEO Vincent Warnery highlighted that NIVEA’s recent performance in Japan was ‘remarkable’ considering that the market is dominated by local brands.

Amorepacific Q2 revenues hampered by domestic sluggishness​

South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific blames subdued second-quarter (Q2) domestic sales for lacklustre results.

Amorepacific reported on July 26 that revenue dipped slightly by 0.04% to KRW945.4bn (USD983m) while operating profit rose by 0.4% to KRW5.9bn (USD4.6m)

The flat performance was attributed to domestic revenues, which declined by 11.6%.

La Prairie H1 sales decline attributed to diagou woes in China and Korea​

German personal care conglomerate Beiersdorf has blamed the diagou situation in China and South Korea for La Prairie’s 9.9% sales decline in the first half (H1).

In the second quarter, the luxury skin care brand reported a decline of 7.5%.

“We recorded negative growth of 7.5% in the second quarter, and the primary reason lies in the significant disruptions of the diagou business in the Asian travel retail markets,”​ said Beiersdorf CEO Vincent Warnery.

Sa Sa Q1 buoyed by return of tourists to HK, Macau​

Sa Sa records 53.3% turnover increase in Hong Kong and Macau as more tourists return to its home market in the first quarter (Q1).

The beauty retailer announced that Hong Kong and Macau saw a 31.5% increase in the total number of transactions in the three months ending June 2023.

In Hong Kong alone, offline sales increased 58.3% year-on-year. Macau recorded 67.5% year-on-year growth. In total, offline sales increased by 60.7%.