Commercial Sales Results
‘Multipolar’ strength pays off as L’Oréal posts strong first-quarter sales despite North Asian travel retail drag
“Our multipolar approach to beauty – from luxury to mass, professional to dermatological, in all channels, all price points, and all geographies – allows us to seize all growth opportunities and offset temporary points of softness,” says L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus.
The luxury goods powerhouse attributed the sales decline to sluggish market conditions, notably in China, and the ongoing transitions within the group’s houses. But Kering Eyewear bucked the negative trend.
“Our multipolar approach to beauty – from luxury to mass, professional to dermatological, in all channels, all price points, and all geographies – allows us to seize all growth opportunities and offset temporary points of softness,” says L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus.
LVMH noted: “DFS remained below its 2019 pre-COVID level of business activity, with international travel only partially recovering in Europe and at flagship destinations Hong Kong and Macau.”
Total annual sales of €8.67 billion (US$9.22 billion) represented a substantial +17.8% increase measured against 2022 performance and a marginal decline compared to the pre-pandemic level.
We reflect on the travel retail to food & beverage leader’s progress in 2024, with emphasis on developments in the Americas.
The key figure of airside spend per departing passenger in the quarter slipped by -2.6% year-on-year to CHF22.80 (US$25).
“2023 has been a milestone year for group,” says Ermenegildo ‘Gildo’ Zegna, Group Chairman and CEO of the Italian luxury fashion house that carries his name, following a stellar full-year performance.
Chairman of the Board Wang Xuan welcomes a 3.95 percentage points increase on profitability year-on-year as the outbound travel revival helps boost the more lucrative offline business. Overall revenue, though, was down almost -10%. UPDATED story with Goldman Sachs analysis.
A strong 2023 performance was fuelled by Marcolin finalising the perpetual licence agreement for Tom Ford Eyewear and the acquisition of ic! Berlin.
Pre-departure downtown duty free shops “are just a matter of time”. That’s the view of China Tourism Group Duty Free leaders about a long-anticipated market development that could hugely enhance the world number one travel retailer’s business in China.
Allen Hong is one of South Korea’s most experienced travel retail executives. In this article, he assesses the Korean duty-free industry’s state of health in light of far-reaching regulatory changes introduced on 1 February affecting the previously dominant daigou reseller sector.
“We are entering a kind of new normal, i.e. real travel retail instead of being the wholesale centre of the region,” a senior Korean travel retail executive tells The Moodie Davitt Report as new regulations curbing reseller activity hit market sales.