L'Oréal enjoys sales surge

L'OREAL, the world's biggest cosmetics and skincare group, has confirmed its recession-proof pedigree with first quarter sales ahead e3.7bn (£2.4bn).

While luxury goods rivals such as LVMH and Gucci complain that punters are spurning their duty-free offers, L'Oréal, which includes upmarket brands such as Lancóme, Redken 5, Kérastase and Helena Rubenstein, continues to report healthy sales increases.

With underlying growth a steady 8% year on year, chief executive Lindsay Owen-Jones said the strongest area was skincare, with sales up 24.5% on a like-for-like basis while cosmetics achieved a steady 8.3% advance.

Some of the most significant sales increases continued to be achieved in developing markets such as Mexico, where sales rose 20% last year, and in Russia. L'Oréal is raising the 2001 year-end dividend 22.7% to e0.54 to celebrate a 19.6% 2001 net profit increase to e1.2bn, on sales ahead 8.4% at e13.7bn.

The strong performance has won the company powerful support from investors. By market capitalisation, L'Oréal now ranks as the third biggest company in France, behind TotalFinaElf, but ahead of one-time wonder stocks such as France Télécom and Vivendi Universal.