L’Oréal shares still lower: L’Oréal will exceed the pre-crisis level in 2021 – dividend increases

On a comparable basis, sales in 2021 were significantly higher than in the pre-crisis year 2019, as Beiersdorf’s competitor announced in Clichy on Wednesday evening. The operating profit even reached a record value of almost 6.2 billion euros. L’Oral boss Nicolas Hieronimus spoke of a “historic year” for the group. But the share initially fell significantly on Thursday. In the fourth quarter, the group increased its sales even more than analysts had expected on average. Looking at the year as a whole, however, the margins were somewhat disappointing, wrote industry expert Molly Wylenzek from the Jefferies analyst firm.

Overall, L’Oreal achieved sales of almost 32.3 billion euros in the past year. On a comparable basis and adjusted for currency fluctuations, this was a good 16 percent more than in the previous year and over 11 percent more than in 2019, when the pandemic had not yet gripped the world. The bottom line is that L’Oreal earned around 4.6 billion euros, 29 percent more than in the previous year. Shareholders are now to receive a dividend of EUR 4.80 per share, an increase of 20 percent.

Demand for luxury and medicinal cosmetics and for professional products, such as those sold by L’Oreal to hairdressing salons, was particularly strong. Here, revenues grew by at least 20 percent or more compared to 2020. On the other hand, the growth in the mass business with end consumers fell off significantly at just under 6 percent on a comparable basis.

The Group recorded the strongest sales boost in percentage terms in North America with a good 22 percent, followed by North Asia with 18 percent. In L’Oreal’s home region of Europe, revenues rose by a good 10 percent to 10.2 billion euros.

In the morning, the L’Oreal share lost more than four percent, making it by far the weakest value in the euro zone index EURO STOXX 50. Since the turn of the year, the price has now lost around 14 percent.

CLICHY (dpa-AFX)

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