Positive results over entire fiscal year
L’Oréal’s entire turnover dropped 2.2 % to 5.64 billion euro in the first quarter of 2014, mainly because of negative exchange rate fluctuations and a slower American growth. If exchange rate fluctuations and acquisitions are taken out of the equation, turnover would have increased 3.5 %.
Western European turnover grew 2.8 % (ignoring exchange rate fluctuations and acquisitions), while Eastern European turnover grew for the first time in 6 years. North American like-for-like turnover dropped 0.6 % this quarter, the first drop since 2009’s fourth quarter.
The French cosmetics firm is not worried in the slightest over the full-year performance: “We are pretty confident for the rest of the year and we expect our growth to get back on a solid base as soon as the next quarter”, CEO Jean-Paul Agon told Bloomberg. He therefore expects L’Oréal to grow faster than the anticipated 3.5 to 4 % growth within the entire cosmetics market in 2014.
