Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea skin care products, has posted an organic group sales increase of 5.7% for full year 2017 (nominal growth of 4.5%), to €7.056 billion.
The group saw organic sales rise 4.7% Consumer Business Segment, which is home to Nivea and La Prairie among others, to €5.799 billion.
Group EBIT improved from €1.015 billion in the previous year to €1.088 billion, while EBIT margin was 15.4%, despite a cyberattack that impacted the company last summer.
“Beiersdorf is in a strong position,” commented the group’s chief executive, Stefan Heidenreich. “We have put Beiersdorf on a long-term path to success. Beiersdorf has strong brands, a well-filled product pipeline and a considerably expanded international presence. Our high levels of efficiency and flexibility are key factors to our success. “
Divisional Performance
It said that all regions contributed to the sales growth in this division, with sales in Europe up 2.2%, and sales in Western Europe exceeding the previous year’s figure by 1.8%. Sales in the Americas were up 4.0%, while in Africa/Asia/Australia, sales rose by 9.2%.
The strongest performer in this division was La Prarie, which grew its sales by 4.5%, compared to 4.5% growth at Nivea, 3.4% growth at Eucerin and a 3.8% increase at Hansaplast.
Its Tesa adhesive tape division posted a 10.6% increase in organic sales in 2017, with nominal sales up 9.8%.
Sales for the division were €1.257 billion, with EBIT up to €207 million, compared to €186 million a year earlier.
The Blue Agenda
Beiersdorf’s positive sales performance comes five years on from the introduction of the 'Blue Agenda', a strategy that was introduced in 2012 as helping to ‘define the course’ of the company’s future.
The goal of the initiative was to establish Beiersdorf as the number one in skin care in its relevant markets and categories.
Commenting to analysts following the publication of this year’s results, Heidenreich was effusive in his praise of how successfully the Blue Agenda has influenced its performance.
“The base of the ongoing success was and remains a dedication and expertise of our employees and our business strategy,” he said.
“We defined the strategy in 2012, have been implementing it consistently ever since. The Blue Agenda, our compass guides all our entrepreneurial activities and has proven highly successful. With our internationally renowned brands, especially, our iconic Nivea brand, we are very well positioned around the world.”
Heidenreich added that the company’s level of product innovation has helped the brand “continuously expand our footprint in the emerging markets”, adding that its “substantially increased efficiency and flexibility to adapt to fast-changing markets have become a key asset of our company.”
Blue & Beyond
Heidenreich also used the analyst call to promote the group’s latest brand boosting strategy, dubbed Blue & Beyond, which seeks to “leverage the great potential of Eucerin, Hansaplast and La Prairie,” he said.
“This entails the following areas: first, expanding digital marketing; second, investing in new digital technologies; third, new research and development applications; fourth, accelerating e-commerce; and fifth, improving the digital skills of our employees.”
On the subject of digital, Heidenreich noted that the cost of the cyberattack that hit the business last year was in the range of between €10 million and €15 million.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
