The luxury brand La Prairie also belongs to the Hamburg consumer goods group. But the luxury market remains difficult, they say. Especially in China.
The Nivea and Tesa Group Beiersdorf is growing and has confirmed its annual forecast, but is struggling in the luxury market. The luxury market remains difficult, particularly in China, said CEO Vincent Warnery on Thursday.
Group sales rose organically by 6.5 percent to 7.5 billion euros in the first nine months compared to the previous year, after 7.1 percent in the first half of the year. However, sales of the Beiersdorf luxury brand La Prairie fell by more than seven percent.
The CEO expects an overall positive development at the end of the year and confirmed the annual targets: in 2024, Beiersdorf expects organic sales growth of six to eight percent. The profit margin should increase slightly.
Shares are rising
Beiersdorf shares, which had recently come under pressure, rose by almost three percent shortly after trading began. This means that the paper took the top spot in the German leading index Dax.
When presenting the half-year figures, CFO Astrid Hermann said that the development of revenues depended primarily on La Prairie. But things aren’t going well at La Prairie: the organic decline in sales increased again to minus 7.3 percent after nine months. “This decline is primarily due to the ongoing weakness in the Chinese economic area and the resulting negative effects on travel retail,” said the Hamburg-based group. Nothing is likely to change, as Warnery explained in a conference call: Developments in China are unlikely to recover in the final quarter either.
Overall, the consumer sector with other brands such as Nivea, Aquaphor and Eucerin grew organically by 7.3 percent. Analyst Molly Wylenzek from the investment house Jefferies noted that the increase in sales in the segment was noticeably below the consensus – but Beiersdorf had developed better than the competition. In the Tesa adhesives division, sales rose organically by 3.1 percent, increasing the pace compared to the first half of the year.
Source: Stern
