L'Oreal SA has continued to outperform in the worldwide beauty market. Its sales are reported to have a reported growth of 7,6% and an 11,0% increase in year-on-year growth. The L'Oreal Luxe line (includes brands such as Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kiehl's, Yves Saint Laurent, IT Cosmetics, Thierry Mugler, Valentino, Maison Martin Margiela, Prada, Lancôme, Diesel, Takami, Aesop, Viktor & Rolf, Biotherm, Atelier Cologne, Youth To The People, Yuesai, shu uemura, Urban Decay, Azzaro, Cacharel and Ralph Lauren) reached the top position in the market leaders in luxury beauty around the world. The group also recorded double-digit growth in like-for-like sales in all geographic regions except North Asia. The divisions - Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty - made a notable performance in the year

Revenue by Category

The Professional line had a hike of 7,6% in year-on-year growth and 4,6% in reported growth. It was focusing on haircare, enhancing its approach to omnichannel presence, and targeting new market sectors. The leading brands, Kérastase and L'Oreal Professional, had noteworthy growth. The franchises like Genesis and Chronologiste from Kérastase, and Metal Detox and Absolut Repair Molecular (for hair growth) and Shades EQ (for hair coloring) from L'Oreal Professional were huge successes. The revenue from this category was mainly driven by China, followed by emerging markets like India.

The Consumer category faced an increase that was never seen in over 30 years with 12,6% year-on-year growth and 8,2% reported growth. It performed very well in the mass market with immense growth in value and volume. The four main brands reported a double-digit growth with L'Oréal Paris giving over €7bn. Make-up products such as Infallible Matte Resistance lipstick by L'Oréal Paris, Surreal Mascara from Maybelline New York, and Fat Oil Gloss by NYX Cosmetics were a hit. Haircare did a great job with some launches such as Garnier Good Hair Color and Elvive Bond Repair from L'Oréal Paris. Skincare had successes with Garnier Fast Bright with Vitamin C along with new launches like Glycolic Bright and Revitalift Clinical from L'Oréal Paris. The category performance was noteworthy in Europe followed by Mexico, Brazil, India, and North America.

The L'Oreal Luxe division soared by 4,5% on year-on-year growth and 2,0% reported. Even though there was a hurdle in North Asia due to the travel retailing reset and softening of the market in China, this category became the number one line in the luxury beauty market. The group invested in the division’s omnichannel strategies such as adding Amazon to the US market and building a strong portfolio for brands. There was also an early investment in adopting Douyin and a point-of-sale approach which paid off. Fragrances was the lead performer, as usual, with Libre from Saint Laurent and the new release of MYSLF, Paradoxe from Prada, Born in Roma by Valentino, Wanted from Azzaro, and Angel by Thierry Mugler. In the skincare category, Helena Rubinstein crossed €1bn and Takami went strong in medical luxury. The latest including labels such as Valentino, Takami, and Prada gave a higher contribution in revenue. The newest acquisition of Aesop had a good start.

Dermatological beauty products had the highest year-on-year growth of 28,4% and a reported increase of 25,5%. It reported a double-digit growth for the sixth time in consecutive years. This result was driven by the category’s omnichannel approach, high-quality brands, and their long-established medical prescribed portfolio. The division has a balanced performance in each region with a significant act in mainland China with the key contributor, La Roche-Posay, and the microbiome renovation treatment of Cicaplast. CeraVe continues to conquer the US market and Vichy showcased its best performance in the last 18 years.

Revenue by Geographic Regions

Revenue in Europe faced a 16% year-on-year growth and a 13,7% reported, making it the largest sales driver for the group in 2023. All the categories in the region had a double-digit growth, especially skincare and makeup. Professional brands such as Kérastase, L'Oreal Professional (for Série Expert), all the four key consumer brands, L'Oréal Luxe products including Libre from Saint Laurent (which became the second leading female fragrance in Europe after La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme), and Paradoxe by Prada, and dermatological beauty products such as CeraVe performed well.

North America’s sales had a year-on-year growth of 11,8% and 9,7% increase in reported sales. The strong revenue was due to innovations and optimization through all channels. Here, the key contributors are Dermatological Beauty and L’Oréal Luxe. Professional products did a phenomenal job with Kérastase as the main brand. Consumer products increased with haircare. L'Oréal Luxe outperformed in fragrance with Born in Roma from Valentino and MYSLF by Yves Saint Laurent as the star items. E-commerce, especially during the holiday season, played an important role in this revenue. Dermatological beauty products had continuous growth with CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, and Skinbetter Science.

North Asian sales took a 0,9% sink in year-on-year sales and a 5,8% decrease in reported revenue. L’Oréal increased by 5,4% in mainland China, where the beauty market remained unchanged, which was driven by the group’s investment in offline marketing. Hong Kong had a buoyant result with the commencement of tourist activity. Japan faced a good performance with Consumer Products (with Maybelline New York and Stylenanda) and L’Oréal Luxe (with Helena Rubinstein and Takami). The dermatological beauty division witnessed considerable growth with CeraVe’s double-digit growth and Professional products increased strongly at a continuous pace with Kérastase. Both online and offline channels had their fair share of contributions in the revenue.

Turnover in South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa or SAPMENA region witnessed 23,2% like-for-like and a 16,4% reported increase. This region has a double-digit growth in each category with fragrance in first position, followed by skincare and makeup. Haircare continued in its usual position. The star performers are Dermatological beauty products with CeraVe expanding successfully and Consumer products with a double-digit increase in all brands’ sales. It had sales more online than offline with India and Vietnam as the key players.

Latin America reached an outstanding revenue growth with 24,4% year-on-year and 22,8% reported increase. This was driven by the contributions from both volume and value with all categories recording double-digit numbers. Skincare, makeup, and hair care were performing exceptionally. Similar to SAPMENA, the key contributors by category were Consumer products with all main brands’ strong performance, and Dermatological beauty products with La Roche-Posay and CeraVe stealing the limelight. By country, Mexico and Brazil were in the top positions with the former contributing over 30% in growth. It had a well-balanced implementation in omnichannel presence.

Cover Image: Products of L'Oreal SA, courtesy Bloomberg.