Beiersdorf pulled in €7.65m in sales for 2019 across the entire group, up 5.8% on the previous year, and €6.27bn under its consumer business segment, up 6.5%, according to its preliminary full-year sales report. The unaudited results showed organic growth across the consumer business unit stood at 4.8%.
Stefan De Loecker, chairman of the executive board of Beiersdorf, said the company had proven its competitiveness in “an increasingly challenging market environment”.
“Even though we expect headwinds in the 2020 financial year, we see good potential and opportunities which we will fully leverage with further investments,” De Loecker said.
Skin care strength - Nivea, Eucerin, Aquaphor and La Prairie driving sales
Within the consumer unit, Beiersdorf said organic growth had been achieved in all global regions and Nivea, Eucerin, Aquaphor and La Prairie had been “key drivers of sales growth”.
For the full 12 months of 2019, sales under the Nivea brand were up 3%; sales of derma brands Eucerin and Aquaphor were collectively up 7.5%; and La Prairie saw a 20% rise in sales.
Western Europe continued to hold the lion’s share of sales but Eastern Europe showed slightly higher nominal growth for the year – up 3.8% versus 2.7% in Western Europe.
Beiersdorf said the newly acquired sunscreen brand Coppertone had also positively contributed to nominal sales, “albeit in a limited way due to seasonal effects”.
The company’s final audited FY19 results will be released in March.
Indie Beauty future?
In August, last year, Beiersdorf launched a corporate indie business unit OSCAR&PAUL to manage its existing brands and develop new concepts.
At the time, Hauke Voß, director of OSCAR&PAUL, described the unit as an “embedded business accelerator” to implement innovative ideas “quickly and courageously”.
“Our mission is to consciously think differently and constantly question boundaries. We try to understand trends and markets and to quickly and flexibly develop a tailor-made offer and give impulses. We do all this with great passion and similar working methods of start-ups,” Voß, said.
De Loecker said Beiersdorf would continue to strengthen its brand portfolio moving forward into 2020, leveraging growth momentum and gaining market share.
