L'Oreal said it is confident of netting further gains in revenue and earnings as the French cosmetics giant looks to further strengthen its dominant position in the beauty market.
Last year, L'Oreal made total sales of 44.05 billion euros ($52.29 billion), up 1.3% from a year earlier on a reported basis, the company said in an earnings update Thursday. In the last quarter of the year, sales grew 1.5% to 11.245 billion euros. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the group to book fourth-quarter sales of 11.36 billion euros.
Operating profit for 2025 rose 2.4% on year to 8.89 billion euros, a hair ahead of analyst estimates of 8.88 billion euros. The group's operating margin expanded to 20.2% from 20.0% in 2024.
Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus said the company is confident for the beauty industry's prospects this year, and for L'Oreal's ability to stay ahead of competitors.
"We are set up for further acceleration," Hieronimus said.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
Corrections & Amplifications
This item was corrected at 3:06 p.m. ET to show that L'Oreal's 2025 sales rose 1.3% on a reported basis, not on a like-for-like basis.
Mr. Nicolas Hieronimus is a Chief Executive Officer & Director at L'Oréal SA, a Chairman at Loreal Fund For Women, a Chief Executive Officer & Director at L'Oréal (UK) Ltd. and a Managing Director at Kerastase Paris SA. He is on the Board of Directors at L'Oréal SA, L'Oréal (UK) Ltd. and L'Oréal Corporate Foundation. Mr. Hieronimus was previously employed as a General Manager by L'Oréal México SA de CV, a Director-Marketing by Laborotoires Garnier, and a Manager by L'Oréal Produits de Luxe International SNC. He received his undergraduate degree from ESSEC Business School.
L'Oréal is the world leading cosmetic group. The group offers skincare products (38.6% of net sales), makeup products (19.4%), haircare products (16.2%), fragrances (13.7%), hair colouring products (8%) and other (4.1%). Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- consumer cosmetics (36.7%): L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Essie Niely, Dark and Lovely, Mixa, MG and Carol's Daughter brands;
- luxury cosmetics (35.9%): Lancôme, Kiehl's, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Ralph Lauren, Mugler, Viktor&Rolf, Valentino, Azzaro, Prada, Takami, A?sop, etc.;
- active cosmetics (16.2%): La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, Skinbetter Science, etc.;
- professional products (11.2%): L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix and PureOlogy brands.
Products are marketed through mass distribution and distance selling, selective distribution, hair salons and pharmacies.
At the end of 2024, L'Oréal has 36 production sites worldwide.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (7.3%), Europe (25.4%), North America (27.1%), North Asia (23.7%), Asia-Pacific/Middle East/Africa (8.9%) and Latin America (7.6%).
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