L’Oréal believes it will outperform the market in 2013, as its net profit rose by 17.6 percent in the last quarter despite the slowdown of sales on the Asian markets. The Paris based cosmetics group, with Bettencourt family and Switzerland’s Nestlé as 61 percent majority shareholders, scored net profit of €2.87bn on sales of €22.46bn, up 10 per cent in reported terms or 5.5 per cent like for like.
The company plans a €500m share buy-back in the first half of 2013, following a similar step last year. Its expansion target in taking on new markets is to reach 1 billion new consumers over the next 10 to 15 years. L’Oréal expanded its production outside France last year, opening factories in Mexico and Indonesia, while another is planned for Egypt this year.
