PARIS (AFP) – Cosmetics giant L’Oreal posted double-digit growth in sales and profits in 2022 to record levels despite inflation and COVID lockdowns in China and expressed confidence for the year ahead thanks to a return by Chinese consumers.
Recording growth in all of its markets, sales rose by 18.5 per cent to EUR38.3 billion (USD41.1 billion).
Profits, meanwhile, jumped 24.1 per cent to EUR5.7 billion.
“It’s a year we’re very proud of,” chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus told AFP.
“There are a lot of uncertainties in 2023 and there could be several new difficult moments,” he said, but added he remained “confident” in the capability of the company to outperform the market.
“Today the sky is clearing a bit: inflation on a certain number of raw materials and transport costs are in the process of stabilising… recession concerns in different world economies are somewhat less than they were a few months ago and China is re-opening,” Hieronimus said.
While L’Oreal increased prices on certain products, Hieronimus said the best way to compensate for inflation was innovation. The company has boosted research and development spending by 10 per cent, taking it to three per cent of sales.
