Global sales rose 9 per cent for Procter & Gamble (P&G) in FY2021 Q1 to US$19.3 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations of US$18.38 billion.
Laundry and household cleaning revenues spiked 14 per cent for the period. But beauty and personal care products were also in high demand with organic sales rising 7 per cent, by contrast to the same period 12 months ago.
Globally, cleansing products grew 30 per cent following double-digit growth in all major regions.
Greater China proved a goldmine for P&G with sales of its luxury skincare brand, SK-11, soaring by 20 per cent.
Strong demand in North America, China and Latin America saw organic sales of haircare and masstige skincare – led by Olay – rise in single digits.
The multinational’s grooming division experienced a 10 per cent spike in appliance sales, due to increased interest in dry shaving and styling products.
Shave care, including power brand Gillette, experienced a 5 per cent rise as women’s razor and blade sales during the Northern Hemisphere summer offset flatlining in the men’s business.
Oral care sales grew in the mid-teens globally, while baby, feminine and family care reported growth of 4 per cent.
P&G has changed its outlook for fiscal 2021 following the latest positive results and expects global growth to reach 3 to 4 per cent – up from an earlier forecast of one to three per cent.
We built strong momentum leading up to the crisis, with 6 per cent organic growth in the calendar year 2019, says Jon Moeller, vice-chairman and CFO of P&G. “We maintained 6 per cent growth in the first half of calendar 2020, overcoming significant challenges including lockdowns in China, closure of travel retail, electro, specialty beauty and away-from-home channels”.
L’Oréal’s Q3 like-for-like sales edged up 1.6 per cent to 7.04 billion euros (US$8.3 billion)
Sales in North America and Asia/Pacific grew 1.3 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively, while Europe was the main drag on the multinational’s bottom line.
The Active Cosmetics division, including La Roche-Posay and SkinCeuticals, was the star performer with like-for-like sales up 29.9 per cent for the third quarter.
The Consumer Product division, including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, and Garnier, sneaked into the black again with 0.8 per cent growth.
L’Oréal Luxe experienced a decline of 6.2 per cent, but this was well ahead of the overall slump in the prestige beauty market of 19 per cent.
E-commerce sales continued to boom with sales up 61.6 per cent.
This return to growth is evidence of consumers robust appetite for beauty products and our innovations”, said Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and CEO of L’Oréal.
“All these initiatives enabled us to significantly outperform a beauty market which is still on the road to recovery”.