While luxury peers like LVMH struggled with slowing sales, Q1 of 2025 has proved solid for beauty conglomerate L’Oréal. The Group reported a 4.4% sales growth (3.5% like-for-like) for the time period, almost tripling analyst expectations of 1.3% and moderately outperforming the global beauty market. L’Oréal generated €11.7 billion ($13.3 billion) in total sales for the three months concluding in March, showcasing the company as a resilient figure in the current challenging beauty landscape.
L’Oréal’s performance was bolstered by strong demand for face creams and fragrances across Europe, which helped to offset slower pace in the US market. The company also boosted a €100 million benefit ($106.7 million—which contributed to the top line) tied to the gradual rollout of an IT overhaul.
“In what has been a particularly challenging and volatile operating environment, L’Oréal has started the year with growth in line with our projections,” commented Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal. “There were some good and some less good surprises: the US was more challenging than anticipated, while China was slightly better than expected. Europe was, once again, our single largest growth contributor, and emerging markets remained dynamic.”
L’Oréal noted ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, including the still uncertain effects from Trump’s tariffs, but emphasized that it plans to safeguard profitability through measuring pricing actions and ensuring tight operational control going forward.
“In the current context, our priorities are to drive growth and manage our P&L to offset the impact of tariff hikes—with the benefit of an already very healthy gross margin,” Hieronimus added. “We will, of course, continue to put the right fuel behind our 37 international brands to further reinforce our global leadership.”
Sales in all divisions grew, led by L’Oréal Luxe, while fragrance and haircare remained the fastest-growing categories. Hieronimus also said that the Group’s “Beauty Stimulus Plan” (a strategic initiative aimed at revitalizing its dermatological beauty division through targeted innovation and strategic product launches) was off to a promising start, naming innovations like Gloss Absolu from Kérastase, P-TIOX from SkinCeuticals, Make Me Blush from Yves Saint Laurent, or Elvive Growth Booster by L’Oréal Paris as top contenders.
Despite reduced consumer spending in some key regions, Hieronimus noted that L’Oréal will remain confident in its long-term trajectory. “I am confident that we will continue to outperform the global beauty market—which we expect to grow even amidst the current economic and geopolitical tensions—and to achieve another year of growth in sales and profit. We expect growth to accelerate progressively.”
The Key Details:
By Division—Quarterly Sales (Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2024)
L’Oréalreported solid growth across all divisions as luxe led performance, followed by dermatological beauty, consumer products, and professional products, reflecting success for the Group across both premium and mass categories.
By Geographic Zone (Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2024)
L’Oreál’s growth was influenced by strong performance in emerging and Asian markets, led by SAPMENA-SSA, followed by North Asia, and Latin America. Europe also had a healthy increase, while North America was the only region to decline, highlighting differences in regional consumer demand and market dynamics.
