Beauty consumption "red light": L'Oreal's Q3 sales slowdown worsens, with same-store sales in China and other North Asian regions accelerating by 6.5% | Financial Report Insights

The financial report of L'Oréal SA, the world's largest cosmetics group, has raised a "red flag" for the consumer market: in the third quarter, sales in certain Asian regions where major economies such as China are located did not show improvement, but instead accelerated their decline, dragging down L'Oréal's overall sales growth further, making it the worst-performing quarter of the year.

On Tuesday, October 22, local time, the L'Oréal Group, headquartered in France, announced its financial data for the third quarter of 2024 and the first nine months of the year.

1) Key Financial Data

Sales: In the first nine months of this year, sales were €32.406 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Sales in the third quarter were €10.285 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, with analysts expecting €10.57 billion.

Like-for-Like Sales: Like-for-like sales growth was 6% in the first nine months, and 3.4% in the third quarter, with analysts expecting a growth of 5.88%.

2) Segment Business Data

Consumer Products: Sales for the Consumer Products division in the first nine months were €12.07 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, with like-for-like sales growth of 6.4%. In the third quarter, sales were €3.748 billion, a decrease of 0.6% year-on-year, with like-for-like sales growth of 1.4%.

Luxury Products: Sales for the Luxury Products division in the first nine months were €11.353 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, with like-for-like sales growth of 4.3%. In the third quarter, sales were €3.775 billion, an 8% year-on-year increase, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.8%.

Active Cosmetics: Sales for the Active Cosmetics division in the first nine months were €5.993 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%, with like-for-like sales growth of 11.3%. In the third quarter, sales were €1.6 billion, a decrease of 1.6% year-on-year, with like-for-like sales growth of 0.8%.

Professional Products: Sales for the Professional Products division in the first nine months were €3.589 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.8%. In the third quarter, sales were €1.163 billion, a 4.8% year-on-year increase, with like-for-like sales growth of 6.1%.

3) Regional Market Data

Europe: Sales in Europe for the first nine months were €10.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, with like-for-like sales growth of 9.3%. In the third quarter, sales were €3.417 billion, a 5.2% year-on-year increase, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.6%.

North America: Sales in North America for the first nine months were €8.905 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, with like-for-like sales growth of 6.9%. In the third quarter, sales were €3.107 billion, a 4.3% year-on-year increase, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.2%.

North Asia: Sales in North Asia for the first nine months were €7.43 billion, a 3.5% year-on-year decrease, with like-for-like sales decreasing by 3%. In the third quarter, sales were €1.956 billion, a 4.4% year-on-year decrease, with like-for-like sales decreasing by 6.5%.

SAPMENA-SSA: Sales in the South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SAPMENA-SSA) for the first nine months were €2.839 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%, with like-for-like sales growth of 12.6%. In the third quarter, sales were €955 million Year-on-year growth of 7.9%, same-store sales growth of 8%.

Latin America: Sales in Latin America for the first nine months amounted to 2.531 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, with same-store sales growth of 12.3%. Among them, sales in the third quarter reached 850 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%, with same-store sales growth of 8.6%.

After the financial report was released, on Tuesday near the midday of the U.S. stock market, L'Oreal's U.S. stocks, which had risen nearly 0.8% from the daily high in the morning, plunged and turned negative. At the beginning of the afternoon session, hitting a new daily low, the intraday decline was about 4.7%, before narrowing to around 3%.

Sales growth in the third quarter is less than half of the second quarter, with the largest business of mass cosmetics shifting from positive to negative growth

The financial report shows that L'Oreal's overall sales growth in the third quarter once again slowed down more than expected, with the sales growth rate for the quarter being less than half of the 6.7% growth rate in the second quarter. The growth rate of same-store sales was only 60% of the 5.3% growth rate in the second quarter.

Among L'Oreal's four major businesses, half of the sales in the third quarter declined year-on-year, with the largest revenue source, mass cosmetics, and the fastest-growing skincare science and beauty business in the first half of the year both shifting from positive to negative growth year-on-year. All businesses maintained growth in same-store sales, but the growth of mass cosmetics and skincare science and beauty compared to the second quarter significantly slowed down, with the former's growth rate of 1.4% only 20% of the second quarter, and the latter's growth rate slowing from 10.8% in the second quarter to 0.8%.

L'Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus commented that the weather conditions during the summer negatively impacted the company's sun protection products. However, the consumption of beauty products remains resilient, with L'Oreal's hair care and perfume business performing well, achieving double-digit growth and far exceeding the market average. L'Oreal's cosmetics business is slowly recovering, with most innovations coming from the Maybelline brand. The skincare science and beauty business division at L'Oreal clearly lacks innovation.

Same-store sales decline in North Asia in the third quarter is nearly three times that of the second quarter, with Japan's beauty business benefiting from tourists from China and other regions

By region, except for North Asia, including China, L'Oreal's sales in the third quarter remained positive in other global markets. North Asia became the main driver of the slowdown in sales for L'Oreal in the quarter. The year-on-year decline in sales in the region was nearly twice the 2.4% decline in the second quarter, with the decline in same-store sales about 2.7 times that of the second quarter.

In the financial report, L'Oreal pointed out that the company's sales in the mainland China beauty market were already negative in the second quarter, affected by weakened consumer confidence, and the situation continued to deteriorate in the third quarter, resulting in a low single-digit decline in sales for the first nine months. However, in the mainland China market, L'Oreal's skincare science and professional hair care products performed better than the market average In the field of travel retail, L'Oreal resumed growth in the third quarter, but sales in Hainan still face pressure. In Japan, L'Oreal hinted that the consumption of foreign tourists, including those from China, is driving local sales growth, stating that Japan has become L'Oreal's top overseas market in the beauty industry driven by domestic consumers and tourists.

In the first nine months of this year, L'Oreal's sales increased by 6% year-on-year, and if not for the tourism retail business in China and Asia, the company's sales would have grown by over 8%.

L'Oreal CEO Hieronimus stated that he is pleased to see the new round of stimulus measures introduced by the Chinese government recently. While it is still too early to judge the impact of these measures, discussions around beauty and clothing have increased after the new policies were announced. Hieronimus emphasized that the company's performance is related to consumer confidence but also to innovation. He highlighted that in China, sales of brands under L'Oreal such as Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), SkinCeuticals, Prada, and CeraVe have been strong