By Mauro Orru


L'Oreal posted higher sales for the first quarter, led by growth at its core consumer-products and dermatological-beauty divisions, particularly in Europe and North America.

The French cosmetics giant on Thursday reported sales of 11.24 billion euros ($12 billion) for the three months to the end of March, up 8.3% in reported terms and 9.4% on a like-for-like basis.

Sales in Europe climbed more than 12% in reported terms to EUR3.73 billion. In North America, revenue increased almost 12% to EUR3.02 billion. Sales in Latin America rose nearly 19%, while revenue in North Asia shrank 3.9%.

China has been a weak spot for L'Oreal for much of 2023, when the country's economy grew 5.2% compared with prepandemic rates of 6% or more. The country has been suffering from a prolonged downturn in the property sector as well as weak exports and consumer demand since it emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, its economy seems to have picked up pace, with 5.3% growth in the first quarter. However, L'Oreal said the beauty market remained sluggish in mainland China.

"In an environment that continues to be marked by economic and geopolitical tensions, we are optimistic about the outlook for the beauty market, and confident in our ability to keep outperforming it and to achieve another year of growth in sales and profit," said Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus.


Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-18-24 1234ET