May 9 (Reuters) - Coty Inc raised its full-year
profit forecast on Monday following resilient demand for its
high-end fragrances and skincare products in the United States
and Europe at a time when inflation has soared to multi-year
highs in most countries.
Demand for luxury goods has held up as higher prices of
everyday essentials have not affected the spending power of the
affluent, updates from cosmetics group L'Oreal and
Birkin bag maker Hermes have shown in recent days.
Revenue at Coty's prestige division, which houses cosmetics
and fragrances from the Hugo Boss, Gucci and Burberry brands,
rose 21% to $726.4 million for the third quarter ended March 31.
"(Coty's) prestige brands are seeing phenomenal growth,
which means that consumer confidence to buy our brands is
intact," Chief Executive Officer Sue Nabi told Reuters.
Customers unable to afford products from its prestige
segment could trade down to the consumer beauty unit that sells
lower-priced items, Nabi said.
However, Coty's shares fell as much as 8% to $6.68 amid
broader market declines.
"While the market may be preoccupied with macro factors
today, we believe COTY's better-than-expected results ... should
be taken positively on a stand-alone basis," Deutsche Bank
analysts said.
The cosmetics maker, which has also raised prices to combat
higher costs, saw its third-quarter gross margin increase to
64.3%. Adjusted per-share profit was 3 cents, beating estimates
of 1 cent, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Coty increased its fiscal 2022 adjusted per-share earnings
forecast to between 23 cents and 27 cents, from its previous
outlook of 22 cents to 26 cents.
The implied forecast for the fourth quarter, however, is of
a per-share loss between 1 cent and 5 cents, according to
Reuters calculations, as Coty deals with the impact of higher
raw material costs, the Ukraine conflict and COVID-19 curbs in
China.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)