Paris (AFP) - Cosmetics giant L'Oreal posted double-digit growth in sales and profits in 2022 to record levels despite inflation and Covid lockdowns in China and expressed confidence for the year ahead thanks to a return by Chinese consumers.
Recording growth in all of its markets, sales rose by 18.5 percent to 38.3 billion euros ($41.1 billion).
Profits, meanwhile, jumped 24.1 percent to 5.7 billion euros.
"It's a year we're very proud of," chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus told AFP.
"There are a lot of uncertainties in 2023 and there could be several new difficult moments," he said, but added he remained "confident" in the capability of the company to outperform the market.
"Today the sky is clearing a bit: inflation on a certain number of raw materials and transport costs are in the process of stabilising...recession concerns in different world economies are somewhat less than they were a few months ago and China is reopening," Hieronimus said.
While L'Oreal increased prices on certain products, Hieronimus said the best way to compensate for inflation was innovation.The company has boosted research and development spending by 10 percent, taking it to three percent of sales.
For a second year in a row, L'Oreal's luxury unit, which includes brands such as Lancome, Yves Saint Laurent, and Giorgio Armani, came out on top in terms of sales, climbing 18.6 percent to 14.6 billion euros, thanks in particular to the success of perfumes.
Consumer products, which includes L'Oreal, Garnier and Maybelline brands among others, generated 14.0 billion euros in sales.
Hieronimus said online sales helped L'Oreal to continue growing in China by five to six percent while the overall beauty market there shrank by six percent.
"L'Oreal Luxe surpassed 30 percent market share, that's a record market share," he said.
"That puts us in a very good position to benefit from the market recovery."
