Beiersdorf : gains market share

The enormous impact of the pandemic on Beiersdorf's sales markets caused total sales in the Consumer Business Segment to fall to €5.700 billion in 2020. This was 6.6% lower than the previous year's figure in organic terms. The decline was cushioned by the strong performance in the Derma business with the EUCERIN and AQUAPHOR brands. Here, Beiersdorf recorded year-on-year organic sales growth of 8.3%, with double-digit growth rates in North America, Latin America, and Asia. EBIT excluding special factors fell to €702 million (2019: €883 million) in the Consumer Business Segment. The EBIT margin excluding special factors was 12.3% (2019: 14.1%).

The global skin care market declined in 2020 - some months saw a double-digit drop - due to the coronavirus pandemic. This resulted in a 6.0% fall in organic sales at Beiersdorf's core brand NIVEA in the reporting year. Despite this, NIVEA maintained its strong overall position worldwide in all categories and gained additional market share in over half of countries.

In Health Care, which mainly comprises the plaster business, sales were down organically by 5.9% year on year and were hit particularly by the heavy restrictions imposed in Spain and Italy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Business remained steady in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. HANSAPLAST held up particularly well in this challenging market environment and expanded its market share in two thirds of the countries.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was also clearly felt at LA PRAIRIE. The selective cosmetics brand recorded a 23.9% fall in organic sales due to significantly reduced travel and the resulting fall in sales in the important travel retail business. Despite sales recovering for a time in the course of the year and double-digit growth in China, the brand was unable to match its strong prior-year figures. With the recent launch of LA PRAIRIE at Tmall, Beiersdorf expects to further strengthen the brand's presence in this key market.