Beiersdorf said Stefan de Loecker will step down after a little more than two years in the job. His mandate will end on June 30.

Under de Loecker's leadership, Beiersdorf invested more in its consumer business to counter a drop in sales growth and bought U.S. sun care brand Coppertone from Bayer for $550 million to strengthen its position in North America.

The Hamburg-based firm, which pre-released first-quarter results earlier this month, confirmed group sales rising 6.3% to a pre-crisis level of 1.9 billion euros ($2.29 billion) in the three months of the year. It said online sales jumped by more than 70% in the quarter.

It reaffirmed its full-year 2021 EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin forecast would be level with last year's as the pandemic continues to hit sales of sun and lip care products.

Shares in the company were up 0.9% at 0743 GMT.

($1 = 0.8284 euros)

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Barbara Lewis)