L’Oreal chief optimistic after strong first-half performance
By APThursday, August 26, 2010
L’Oreal upbeat after strong 1st half performance
PARIS — The head of L’Oreal SA says the French cosmetics company will continue to grow faster than the global market for beauty care products this year after a strong performance in the first half.
Jean-Paul Agon says the world cosmetics market grew about 4 percent in the first half of the year and will continue at that pace the rest of the year.
Agon says that “L’Oreal is clearly out of the crisis.”
He also says the market in western Europe will stagnate while sales in Asia, eastern Europe and Latin America accelerate. He spoke at a meeting of financial analysts at the group’s headquarters near Paris on Thursday.
In the first half, L’Oreal’s’ sales rose 10.2 percent to euro9.7 billion ($12.3 billion).
