L’Oréal last week unveiled a stellar set of results for 2021, marked by a +16.1% like-for-like growth in revenues – twice the rate of the overall beauty sector. In the key North Asia region, travel retail continued to grow well thanks to its “booming” business in Hainan (where the group is understood to have generated strong double-digit growth, particularly with China Duty Free Group in Haitang Bay).
“Travel retail has grown +22%, mainly due to valorisation and fuelled by North Asia,” said Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Hieronimus during a results call. He added: “Travel retail has experienced a significant rebound, but is still far from the pre-pandemic levels.”
Groupwide sales reached €32.8 billion (+16.9% at constant exchange rates and +15.3% on a reported basis). Operating profit reached a record €6.16 billion, representing 19.1% of sales.
Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Hieronimus said: “2021 was a historic year for L’Oréal. Thanks to the expertise, passion and commitment of our 85,400 L’Oréalians around the world, the Group achieved record growth of +16.1%, twice that of the worldwide beauty market. L’Oréal gained market share in all zones, divisions and categories.
“Over two years, the Group achieved growth of +11.3% like-for-like, spectacularly outperforming a market that had returned almost to 2019 levels. In 2021, all stars aligned for this historic performance.”
In terms of zones, North America made a strong comeback and joined North Asia as the primary growth contributor. In Europe, boosted by a zonal reorganisation, L’Oréal achieved “significant” market share gains and saw a return to 2019 levels. Amid an extremely volatile public health situation in SAPMENA-SSA and Latin America, L’Oréal demonstrated agility and delivered solid performance, the group said.
L’Oréal Luxe became the Group’s largest division, with “remarkable success” in fragrances, while the Consumer Products Division, the largest division by volume, strengthened its position, with a noteworthy performance in makeup. The fast-growing Professional Products Division continued its transformation and became truly omnichannel, the company commented.
Active Cosmetics achieved “spectacular growth”, its sales representing a doubling of revenue in four years.
In an important affirmation of the company’s strong digital focus of recent years, ecommerce grew by +25.7%, accounting for 28.9% of sales. “We have been able to seize the opportunities offered by new digital channels. At the same time, we are continuing to digitalise points of sale as part of an integrated omnichannel strategy,” Hieronimus said.
“We are also pursuing our Beauty Tech transformation by investing in data and artificial intelligence, and by establishing strategic partnerships such as our alliance with Verily, to better understand and characterise skin and hair aging mechanisms.”
He concluded: “In a global context that remains volatile at the beginning of the year, we are confident in our ability to outperform the market in 2022 and achieve another year of growth in both sales and profits.”
