L’Oreal looking good thanks to emerging markets

French cosmetics firm L’Oreal yesterday revealed its sales grew strongly in the first quarter of the year, driven by booming demand in emerging markets.

The company behind Maybelline cosmetics and Garnier hair products said it pulled in €5.6 billion (£4.6bn) in revenue from January to March. It marks a 9.4 per cent increase over the same quarter last year.

L’Oreal’s reliable revenue growth stems in part from its success in pushing into fresh markets to make up for a slowdown in Europe.

The quarter marked the first time that the firm’s revenue from those markets – Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East – was higher than from Western Europe. Sales in new markets totalled €2.1bn, a 14 per cent increase. Western Europe came in at €1.95bn.

News of the sales growth came a day after L’Oreal signed a product-placement deal with Channel 4 TV series Hollyoaks.