- On 20 April, L’Oréal held its Annual General Meeting behind closed doors. All resolutions were approved, including:
- Payment of a dividend of €4 per share;
- Appointments as directors of Mr Nicolas Hieronimus and Mr Alexandre Ricard, as well as renewal of the tenures as directors of Ms Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Mr Paul Bulcke and Ms Virginie Morgon.
- On 20 April, the L’Oréal Board of Directors decided:
- The dissociation of the functions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. Mr Jean-Paul Agon will continue to fulfil the role of Chairman as he has done since 2011 and Mr Nicolas Hieronimus was appointed Chief Executive Officer as of 1 May 2021;
- On the basis of the authorisation approved by the Annual General Meeting of 20 April 2021, to buy back L’Oréal shares for a maximum amount of 1.2 billion euros and a maximum of 3 million shares, in a period starting 3 May 2021 and ending 30 June 2021, in a view to cancelling them. 3,000,000 shares were bought back from 3 May to 18 June 2021.
- On 22 April, L’Oréal announced the appointment of Asmita Dubey as Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, a member of the Executive Committee, to drive the second phase of the Group’s digital transformation.
- On 23 June, L’Oréal announced the creation of the Europe Zone, led by Vianney Derville, previously President of the Western Europe Zone.
- On 29 July, the Board of Directors has decided to cancel 3,000,000 shares bought back, effective on 30 July 2021, pursuant the share buyback programme decided on 20 April 2021.
- On 31 August, L’Oréal ranked first across all categories in the Vigéo Eiris indices. The international non-financial rating agency evaluates companies’ governance as well as social and environmental performance, and lists L’Oréal in the CAC 40 ESG index.
- On 20 September, for the seventh consecutive year, L’Oréal was recognised as a Global Compact LEAD company by the United Nations for its continued commitment to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and for placing the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the centre of its growth strategy.
- On 20 September, Henkel, L’Oréal, LVMH, Natura &Co and Unilever announced a new global collaboration to co-develop an industry-wide environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products. The aim is to co-design an approach that is brand-agnostic, and which provides consumers with clear, transparent and comparable environmental impact information, based on a common science-based methodology.
- On 27 September, L’Oréal joined Expo 2020 Dubai as the official Beauty Products and Services Partner to share its sustainability initiatives. L’Oréal is also a partner of the World Green Economy Summit, hosted by Expo 2020 in the lead-up to COP26, which will focus on global cooperation to address the challenges facing our planet, step up sustainable development and invest in the green economy.
- On 27 September, it was announced that ADL is to honour Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman of the L’Oréal group, with its prestigious Courage Against Hate award in recognition of L'Oréal’s long-standing commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within the company and to respecting Human Rights and combating antisemitism in society. The award will be presented during the “Never is Now” summit on 7 November.
- On 28 September, Jean-Paul Agon was granted Honorary Citizenship of Shanghai, a distinction conferred on international entrepreneurs and experts who have contributed the most to the economic and social development of the city.
- On 30 September, L’Oréal received the 2021 Grand Prix Award for Corporate Governance conferred by L’Agefi, which (in partnership with CMS Francis Lefebvre, EcoVadis and Ethics & Boards) conducts an independent assessment of CAC 40 and SBF 120 companies to review their corporate governance performance.
- On 6 October, L'Oréal announced that it had taken 5th place in the Universum 2021 global rankings of business students’ favourite companies, moving up five spots from 2020. The Group is the highest-ranking EU multinational company in this prestigious ranking.
- On 13 October, the L'Oréal group ranked in Fortune magazine’s Change the World 2021 List, which recognises companies that have a positive social impact through activities that are part of their core business strategy. Fortune identified L'Oréal as a company that is changing the world through its sustainability programme, L'Oréal for the Future.
- On 26 October, L’Oréal won the “Parité du Top 100” Special Award given at the 8th edition of the Awards for the Feminisation of the Governing Bodies of SBF120 companies, presented by the French Ministry for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities.
- Also on 26 October, L’Oréal announced the launch of the largest ever fragrance disclosure model, to strengthen its commitment to transparency and enable consumers to make more informed purchase decisions. To develop the new tool, L'Oréal worked hand in hand with four international leaders in fragrance creation: Firmenich, Givaudan, IFF and Mane.
- On 3 November, L’Oréal received HRH The Prince of Wales’s Terra Carta 2021 Seal, which recognises global companies driving innovation and demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets.
- On 16 November, L’Oréal Water Saver was named a top innovation of 2021 by TIME Magazine. Developed in partnership with environmental innovation company Gjosa, the L’Oréal Water Saver is a one-of-a kind shower head that can reduce water consumption by as much as 65%. Equipping 100,000 salons with this technology could potentially save up to 6.8 billion litres of water.
- On 7 December, L’Oréal was recognised for leadership in corporate sustainability by global environmental non-profit CDP. L’Oréal is the only company in the world to have been awarded an AAA score by CDP six years in a row, covering the organisation’s three areas of focus: climate change, water security and forest conservation.
- On 13 December, L'Oréal was recognised by S&P for its outstanding sustainability performance, receiving a score of 85 out of 100, one of the world’s highest Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) ratings.
- On 29 December, L'Oréal completed its acquisition of Youth to the People, an American company based in California that develops high-performance skincare products, known for their innovative, science-based formulas combining premium vegan superfood extracts.
