0946 GMT - L'Oreal is among the most mentioned companies across news items over the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data after it posted an increase in first-quarter revenue, shrugging off fears of a slowdown in the beauty market. The French cosmetics giant booked sales of EUR11.24 billion for the first quarter, up 8.3% in reported terms compared with the prior-year period. The increase offers hope, especially after the company posted results for 2023 as a whole that missed analysts' forecasts in a year marked by geopolitical tensions, inflation and a stagnating beauty market in China. Still, Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus said he is optimistic on the outlook of the global beauty market and expects L'Oreal to keep outperforming the market. "Amid a noisy few weeks on beauty with fears of a market slowdown, this result should drive a strong positive share reaction," Jefferies analysts say in a note to clients. L'Oreal shares trade 4.6% higher at EUR442.95. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
L'Oréal is the world leading cosmetic group. The group offers skincare products (39.9% of sales), makeup products (19.7%), haircare products (15.4%), fragrances (12.6%), hair colouring products (8.3%) and other (4,1%). Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- consumer cosmetics (36.9%): L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Essie Niely, Dark and Lovely, Mixa, MG and Carol's Daughter brands;
- luxury cosmetics (36.2%): Lancôme, Kiehl's, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Ralph Lauren, Mugler, Viktor&Rolf, Valentino, Azzaro, Prada, Takami, A?sop, etc.;
- active cosmetics (15,6%): La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, Skinbetter Science, etc.;
- professional products (11,3%): L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix and PureOlogy brands.
Products are marketed through mass distribution and distance selling, selective distribution, hair salons and pharmacies.
At the end of 2023, L'Oréal has 37 production sites worldwide.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Europe (31.6%), North America (27%), North Asia (25.9%), Asia/Pacific/Middle East/Africa (8.4%) and Latin America (7.1%).
L'ORÉAL 
