L'Oreal 1st Half Net Profit Rose on Strong Overall Performance; Plans $510 Million Buyback

By Maitane Sardon

L'Oreal SA said Thursday that net profit and sales rose in the first half of the year on the back of a strong performance across all divisions and regions and set out a plan to repurchase its shares.

The French cosmetics and consumer-products company reported a net profit of 3.22 billion euros ($3.28 billion) for the period, up from EUR2.36 billion a year earlier.

Sales rose to EUR18.37 billion from EUR15.2 billion, a 13% increase on a like-for-like basis. In the second quarter, sales were EUR9.30 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast sales of EUR17.73 billion for the first half of the year.

The company's active cosmetics and luxe divisions were the best performers during the period, with sales growth of 21% and 16%, respectively, on a like-for-like basis.

"We remain optimistic about the outlook for the global beauty market and confident in our ability to outperform in 2022 and achieve another year of growth in sales and profits," L'Oreal Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus said.

The company said it plans to buy back up to 2 million shares amounting to a maximum of EUR500 million during the second half of 2022.

Write to Maitane Sardon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2022 12:48 ET (16:48 GMT)

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