French cosmetics giant L'Oréal reported a rise in third quarter sales that missed expectations after low consumer confidence in China sapped demand for beauty products.
The company, which owns the Maybelline and Lancome brands, said sales for the three months to the end of September were €10.28 billion ($11.11 billion), a 3.4% rise on a like-for-like basis at constant exchange rates.
It was below a Visible Alpha consensus of 6% cited by Jefferies.
Shares in Paris-based L'Oréal have lost 20% since June, wiping about €50 billion off its valuation, on investor concerns about consumption in China.
Performance In Asia
The North Asia region, dominated by China, accounts for a quarter of group sales, but persistently weak demand in the world's No. 2 economy has curbed consumer spending.
Sales in North Asia declined 6.5% in the third quarter, said the company, worsening from a decline of 2.4% in the prior three months.
"In mainland China, the beauty market – already negative in the second quarter – continued to deteriorate, impacted by low consumer confidence," the company said in a statement.
China grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third quarter, data showed on Friday, with luxury bellwether LVMH saying last week that consumer confidence in the country was at an all-time low.
LVMH, Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, and Salvatore Ferragamo all blamed China weakness for missed third quarter sales estimates last week.
Europe
Sales growth in Europe, L'Oréal's biggest region at a third of group sales, also slowed in the third quarter to 5.6% from 9.7% in the prior quarter.
Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal, stated, “As anticipated, global beauty market growth has been normalising throughout the year. In the developed markets, this has been driven by a gradual easing in pricing after two years of strong inflation; despite that, underlying market trends remain robust in Europe, and North America – as well as in emerging markets.
“The situation in the Chinese ecosystem has become even more challenging, but we believe in the future of this market and hope that the governmental stimulus will help improve consumer confidence.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
