On a reported basis, sales for the world's leading cosmetics company rose by 1.5% to €11.25 billion over the last three months of the year.
On a like-for-like basis, the group posted organic growth of 6% in the fourth quarter, marking a clear acceleration compared to the 4% internal growth recorded for the full year.
In a statement, the company explained that it benefited from a strong rebound in its two largest markets, the United States and China, during the second half of the year.
"As promised, organic sales growth accelerated quarter after quarter, fueled by the intensification of our launch plan and supported by a gradual improvement in the beauty market," said CEO Nicolas Hieronimus, noting that L'Oréal had once again outperformed its market.
However, the market had hoped for better, as the consensus was targeting organic growth of 6.3% for the fourth quarter.
In terms of results, operating profit increased by 2.4% to €8.89 billion, delivering an operating margin of 20.2%, up by 20 basis points.
Regarding its outlook, the group expressed optimism about the prospects for the global beauty market in 2026, despite macroeconomic uncertainties, and confidence in its ability to continue outperforming the market and achieving another year of revenue and profit growth.
Furthermore, it will propose a dividend of €7.20, an increase of 2.9% compared to the dividend paid in 2025.
After hours, L'Oréal shares fell by more than 6% on American OTC trading platforms on Thursday evening, following these weaker-than-expected figures.
L'Oréal is the world leading cosmetic group. The group offers skincare products (38.6% of net sales), makeup products (19.4%), haircare products (16.2%), fragrances (13.7%), hair colouring products (8%) and other (4.1%). Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- consumer cosmetics (36.7%): L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Essie Niely, Dark and Lovely, Mixa, MG and Carol's Daughter brands;
- luxury cosmetics (35.9%): Lancôme, Kiehl's, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Ralph Lauren, Mugler, Viktor&Rolf, Valentino, Azzaro, Prada, Takami, A?sop, etc.;
- active cosmetics (16.2%): La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, Skinbetter Science, etc.;
- professional products (11.2%): L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix and PureOlogy brands.
Products are marketed through mass distribution and distance selling, selective distribution, hair salons and pharmacies.
At the end of 2024, L'Oréal has 36 production sites worldwide.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (7.3%), Europe (25.4%), North America (27.1%), North Asia (23.7%), Asia-Pacific/Middle East/Africa (8.9%) and Latin America (7.6%).
This super rating is the result of a weighted average of the rankings based on the following ratings: Global Valuation (Composite), EPS Revisions (4 months), and Visibility (Composite). We recommend that you carefully review the associated descriptions.
Investor
Investor
This super composite rating is the result of a weighted average of the rankings based on the following ratings: Fundamentals (Composite), Global Valuation (Composite), EPS Revisions (1 year), and Visibility (Composite). We recommend that you carefully review the associated descriptions.
Global
Global
This composite rating is the result of an average of the rankings based on the following ratings: Fundamentals (Composite), Valuation (Composite), Financial Estimates Revisions (Composite), Consensus (Composite), and Visibility (Composite). The company must be covered by at least 4 of these 5 ratings for the calculation to be performed. We recommend that you carefully review the associated descriptions.
Quality
Quality
This composite rating is the result of an average of the rankings based on the following ratings: Capital Efficiency (Composite), Quality of Financial Reporting (Composite), and Financial Health (Composite). The company must be covered by at least 2 of these 3 ratings for the calculation to be performed. We recommend that you carefully review the associated descriptions.
ESG MSCI
ESG MSCI
The MSCI ESG score assesses a company’s environmental, social, and governance practices relative to its industry peers. Companies are rated from CCC (laggard) to AAA (leader). This rating helps investors incorporate sustainability risks and opportunities into their investment decisions.