"E-commerce will definitely help as people can order products to be delivered to their homes, but it (the virus) will certainly have an impact in the weeks to come," Agon told a news conference, emphasising that e-commerce accounts for almost 50 percent of L'Oreal's sales in China, one of its biggest markets.

Agon also said that L'Oreal's factories and offices were closed in China until Monday and it was too early to quantify the impact on sales.

(Reporting by Sarah White; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by David Goodman)