Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Wednesday, April 26, 2023
HAMBURG – German maker and retailer of personal-care products Beiersdorf AG has reported a rise in sales in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of last year, supported by its consumer business and the core brand NIVEA.
Vincent Warnery, chief executive of Beiersdorf, said: “Beiersdorf had an excellent first quarter. Our efforts to transform NIVEA are clearly paying off: Our brand icon grew in all regions and March was actually the best month in the history of the brand.
“With strong, double-digit sales growth, NIVEA in Europe and in the Emerging Markets, along with our successful Derma business, compensated for a difficult quarter at La Prairie – one that was negatively impacted by the effects of the Corona lockdown in China.”
For the three-month period, the Hamburg-headquartered group registered sales of €2.481 billion ($2,732 billion) compared with €2.215 billion posted for the same period of 2022.
The consumer business segment generated sales of €2.1 billion euros with an organic sales growth of 14.8%.
The core brand NIVEA, including Labello, grew organically by 18% year-on-year in the first quarter. Growth was led by the sun care, lip care, and deodorants categories. NIVEA recorded double-digit growth in all key markets.
In addition, double-digit sales increases were also seen in face care segment. This growth was underpinned by price increases and a positive volume contribution for the entire portfolio.
Looking ahead, for full year 2023, the group expects its organic sales growth to be in the mid-to-high single digit range. The group’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin, which excludes special factors, is projected to slightly outperform the previous year’s level.
