Beauty Slowdown Hits L’Oreal As Sales Miss On China Consumer Woes

ADR Shares of French cosmetics giant L’Oréal fell nearly 5% after third-quarter sales missed analysts’ expectations, as tracked by Bloomberg. The slowdown in sales was primarily attributed to worsening consumer sentiment in China.

L’Oréal – home to brands including Giorgio Armani Beauty, L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, Garnier, NYX Professional Makeup, and many more — booked sales of 10.28 billion euros ($11.12 billion) for the third quarter. Like-for-like sales increased 3.4%, missing the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of 5.88%. 

“As anticipated, global beauty market growth has been normalizing throughout the year. In the developed markets, this has been driven by a gradual easing in pricing after two years of strong inflation; despite that, underlying market trends remain robust in Europe, and North America – as well as in emerging markets. The situation in the Chinese ecosystem has become even more challenging, but we believe in the future of this market and hope that the governmental stimulus will help improve consumer confidence,” L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus wrote in a statement. 

Here’s a snapshot of third-quarter earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg): 

Like-for-like sales +3.4%, estimate +5.88% (Bloomberg Consensus)

Professional products like-for-like sales +6.1%, estimate +4.5%
Consumer products like-for-like sales +1.4%, estimate +5.18%
L’Oreal Luxe like-for-like sales +5.8%, estimate +4.43%
Dermatological beauty LFL sales +0.8%, estimate +11.2%
North America comparable sales +5.2%, estimate +3.67%
North Asia comparable sales -6.5%, estimate +2.15%
Europe comp sales +5.6%, estimate +6.43%
South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa comparable sales +8%, estimate +12.4%
Latin America comparable sales +8.6%, estimate +11.7%

Currency fluctuations impact -2.1% * Net impact from changes in scope of consolidation +2.1%

Sales EU10.28 billion, estimate EU10.57 billion

Professional products sales EU1.16 billion, estimate EU1.15 billion
Consumer products sales EU3.75 billion, estimate EU3.92 billion
L’Oreal Luxe sales EU3.77 billion, estimate EU3.73 billion
Dermatological beauty sales EU1.60 billion, estimate EU1.81 billion

Here’s more from the beauty company on dismal consumer sentiment across China:

“In mainland China, the beauty market – already negative in the second quarter – continued to deteriorate, impacted by low consumer confidence.” 

ADR shares were down about 4% in early afternoon trade in New York. Shares have tumbled in a bear market on the year, down 23%. 

Around noon Tuesday, Bloomberg quoted CEO Hieronimus as saying he hopes Beijing’s latest stimuli bazooka will be enough to lift souring consumer sentiment amid a worsening downturn in the world’s second-largest economy.