The letter to shareholders - N°78 - Spring 2021

Message from the Chairman

JEAN-PAUL AGON 

Chairman of L’Oréal⁽¹⁾

“In spite of the health crisis and the ongoing associated measures in some countries, particularly in Western Europe, the beauty market continues to recover. Against this backdrop, L’Oréal has started the year with very strong growth at +10.2% like-for-like⁽²⁾ in the first quarter, significantly outperforming the market. The Group is therefore continuing its acceleration, initiated in the third quarter of 2020, and is increasing by +5.0% like-for-like compared to the first quarter of 2019.

The performance of the Professional Products, L’Oréal Luxe and Active Cosmetics Divisions is remarkable, all showing double-digit growth. The Professional Products Division is posting significant growth all over the world. The growth of L’Oréal Luxe is driven by the success of its skincare brands, particularly Lancôme, Kiehl’s and Helena Rubinstein. Active Cosmetics continues to build on the strong momentum already seen in 2020. The Consumer Products Division is stable, still held back by its high exposure to the makeup category which remains lacklustre.

All geographic Zones are growing, with the exception of Western Europe still impacted by the measures associated with the health crisis. North America is performing well both online and offline. All Zones in the New Markets are growing above 10%⁽²⁾, especially the Asia Pacific Zone which is returning to the extremely dynamic pre-pandemic growth rates, driven most notably by a fast-growing mainland China.

E-commerce growth is at +47.2%⁽³⁾ and accounts for 26.8% of sales.

In an environment that is improving progressively due to the vaccination programmes, and thanks to the commitment and determination of the teams all over the world, L’Oréal is in a fighting spirit mode, focused on product launches and investments in growth drivers to support growth of its brands. We are therefore confident in our ability to outperform the market and achieve a year of growth in both sales and profits.”

(1) Since 1 May 2021.

(2) Like-for-like: based on comparable structure and identical exchange rates

(3) Sales achieved on our brands’ own websites + estimated sales achieved by our brands corresponding to sales through our retailers’ websites (non-audited data). Like-for-like.