The Paris-based group, which owns labels ranging from Lancome to Maybelline, said that sales came to 10.6 billion euros ($11.4 billion), just shy of expectations for 10.9 billion euros according to consensus estimates cited by Barclays.

The company's travel retail business, especially in Hainan and South Korea, has been dented by a crackdown by the Chinese government on resellers known as daigou. The resellers purchase inventory at lower prices in other markets in order to resell them at a discount in the mainland.

Rival Estee Lauder earlier this month announced plans to cut 3% to 5% of its global workforce in a bid to improve margins as Chinese customers cut back on non-essentials.

China's economy has not rebounded from the COVID-19 crisis as quickly as previously hoped, weighed down by a property crisis and higher youth unemployment.

L'Oreal has fared better than Estee Lauder in China, accounting for the biggest share of the country's $78.9 billion beauty and personal care market, where its luxury division is the market leader in high end cosmetics.

Sales at Estee Lauder declined 8% overall in the same quarter.

L'Oreal's operating margin for 2023 stood at 19.8%, in line with expectations.

($1 = 0.9292 euros)

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

By Mimosa Spencer