Paris (AFP) – French cosmetics giant L’Oreal said Thursday its profits rose last year despite the declining Chinese market and it made bullish statements about its hopes for 2025. The company posted a net profit of 6.4 billion euros ($6.6 billion) for 2024, up 3.6 percent from 2023. Annual turnover increased 5.6 percent to total 43.48 billion euros.
Director general Nicolas Hieronimus told AFP the company was “overall very satisfied” with a record operating margin of 20 percent given the context of weak Asian demand. Hieronimus said the group was looking to a “phase of conquests” this year as it targeted progress in emerging countries — though “we are also going to invest a lot in the American consumer,” as well as increased market share in products for both men and the over 60s.
Given that Chinese demand had failed to rebound last year as hoped, Hieronimus said the group had nonetheless performed well, enjoying good years in Europe and the United States. Sales in North Asia fell by 3.4 percent year-on-year to 10.3 billion euros, but Europe saw an increase of 9.3 percent to 14.2 billion euros with North American sales up 5.9 percent to 11.8 billion euros.
Luxury brands including Lancome, Yves Saint Laurent, and Giorgio Armani saw increases of 4.5 percent to 15.59 billion euros, driven by North American demand. L’Oreal added it will be lifting its dividend to shareholders to seven euros from 6.60 euros for 2023.
© 2024 AFP
