America caused disappointing numbers for L’Oréal

Demand in
North America weakens

Especially
in North America L’Oréal – the company of brands such as the shampoos of
Garnier, the skin creams of Lancôme and the perfumes of Victor & Rolf –sales are losing momentum. At a comparable basis, sales growth was 4.5% in the
second trimester.

In the
first quarter that had been 6.3%. Of worldwide sales of 5.8 billion euro, 1.37
billion euro were made in North America.

The
weakening in North America is a general problem, not only for L’Oréal. Last
year the market in the US rose by 4.5%. In the first half of 2013 the rise was
barely above 3%. This was something CEO Jean-Paul Agon had not expected given
the current good performances of the American economy.

Growth
countries most important for L’Oréal

In other
regions things fared better for the company. On the new markets in Latin America,
Asia and Africa, comparable sales of L’Oréal grew by 10.3% to 2.1 billion euro
in the second quarter. This currently makes them the most important markets of
the brand.

In Western
Europe, the traditional home base for L’Oréal that was hit by an economic
crisis, the rise in sales was limited to 1.7%. Total sales for the second
quarter in that region came to 1.9 billion euro.

For the
entire year L’Oréal is aiming at a global growth of 3.5% to 4%. Financial
results will be announced by the end of August.