Beauty Sales:

$37 billion

Key Personnel:

L'Oreal's key beauty executives are:

• Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO; Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO, in charge of research, innovation and technology
• David Greenberg, CEO, L’Oréal USA
• Vincent Boinay, president, Travel Retail
• Cyril Chapuy, president, Luxe
• Myriam Cohen-Welgryn, president, Active Cosmetics
• Vianney Derville, president, Europe zone
• Omar Hajeri, president, Professional Products
• Leslie Marino, president Professional Products, U.S.
• Fabrice Megarbane, president, North Asia Zone & CEO, L’Oréal China
• Alexis Perakis-Valat, president, Consumer Products
• Nathalie Gerschtein, president, Consumer Products Division for the North America Zone
• Frédéric Rozé, chief global growth officer
• Vismay Sharma, president, South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa zones

Major Brands & Products:

L'Oreal's major brands and products include hair care, skincare, sun care, color cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances sold under more than 35 brand names in different channels.

Consumer: Garnier, L’Oréal Paris, Le Club des Créateurs, Maybelline, SoftSheen-Carson.

Professional: L’Oréal Professional, Kerastase, Redken, Matrix, Mizano, Shu Uemura Art of Hair, Keraskin Esthetics.

Luxury: Lancôme, Biotherm, Helena Rubenstein, Kiehl’s, Shu Uemura, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel, Viktor & Rolf, Diesel, YSL Beauté. Active Cosmetics: Vichy, LaRoche-Posay, Innerve, SkinCeuticals, Youth to the People.

New Products:

Consumer: Maybelline SuperStay Vinyl Ink No-Budge Longwear Liquid Lip Color, Maybelline Sky High mascara, Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Hair Reset, L’Oréal Paris Age Perfect Rosy Tone Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen; Youth to the People Superfood Cleanser.

Luxury: Takami, Prada, My Way by Giorgio Armani, Voce Viva by Valentino.

Professional: Kérastase Curl Manifesto, Redken Volume Maximizer Thickening Spray; Active Cosmetics: Liftactiv Supreme H.A. Epidermic Filler.

L'Oreal's Net Revenue Is Up 16% —Reaching A Whopping $37 Billion Dollars

Even in a fraught global environment, consumers have not lost their zest for beauty. L’Oréal sales flourished, and the French cosmetics powerhouse maintained its No. 1 position on Beauty Packaging’s list of Top 20 Companies.

Net revenue reached a whopping $37 billion dollars, up 16% like-for-like in 2021. Sales growth compared to 2019 was +11.3% like-for-like.

Commenting on the figures when they were disclosed in February, Nicolas Hieronimus, chief executive officer of L’Oréal, said: “2021 was a historic year for L’Oréal. Thanks to the expertise, passion and commitment of our 85,400 ‘L’Oréalians’ around the world, the Group achieved record growth of +16.1%, twice that of the worldwide beauty market. L’Oréal gained market share in all Zones, Divisions and categories. Over two years, the Group achieved growth of +11.3% like-for-like, spectacularly outperforming a market that had returned almost to 2019 levels.”

With an overall strong omnichannel approach, in 2021, e-commerce grew by +25.7%, accounting for 28.9% of sales. L’Oréal says it is continuing to pursue digital channels, and invest in avenues such as data and artificial intelligence

Performance by Zone & Division:

North America made a strong comeback and joined North Asia as the primary growth contributor. In Europe, the global cosmetics giant gained “significant market share” and returned to 2019 levels. The company reported solid performance even in the volatile South Asia Pacific – Middle East – North Africa region.

Sales in Europe were up 10% like-for-like, to $11.6 billion. North Asia sales rose 17.6% to $11.3 billion; North America sales increased 22% to $9 billion. South Asia Pacific – Middle East – North Africa grew 14% to $2.6 billion. Latin America sales contributed $2 billion, up 21% like-for-like.

L’Oréal China achieved like-for-like growth of more than 50% compared with 2019. During the Double 11 festival on Tmall, L’Oréal broke all records and reported further market share gains. The popular consumer event established L’Oréal Paris and Lancôme as the beauty market’s No.1 and No.3; Yves Saint Laurent took the top slot in makeup, while Kérastase led the way in haircare.

L’Oréal Luxe Became the Group’s Largest Division

L’Oréal Luxe became the Group’s largest Division, reaching nearly $14 billion (up 21% like-for-like) with great success in fragrances.

The Consumer Products Division, the largest Division by volume ($13.8 billion (up 5.6% like-for-like), strengthened its position with a rise in makeup sales.

Active Cosmetics scored $4.4 billion (up 31.8%), and Professional Products reached $4.3 billion, up 24.8%.

More Division Standouts

With a return to salons and strong growth in the U.S. and mainland China, Haircare remained the No. 1 growth category in Professional Products. In particular, Kérastase reported “a spectacular year” driven by the success of Curl Manifesto.

As far as the Consumer Division, L’Oréal Paris strengthened its position as the world’s No. 1 beauty brand with sales exceeding $6.8 billion. Sky High mascara by Maybelline was deemed to be the most successful launch in the brand’s history.

L’Oréal Luxe gained market share in its three categories, led by the ultra-premium brands Lancôme Absolue and Helena Rubinstein, and anti-aging skincare innovations such as Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum by Kiehl’s. The Division advanced in fragrances, driven by established icons like Libre by Yves Saint Laurent and by new launches like Alien Goddess by Mugler and Luna Rossa Ocean by Prada.

The health-driven Active Cosmetics Division saw growth across all zones—especially in North America and North Asia, and outperformed the booming dermocosmetics market. La Roche-Posay more than doubled its growth rate compared with 2020, due to innovations such as Effaclar serum and Lipikar EczemaMED, and CeraVe saw especially strong growth for the second year in a row, in both the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Social and Environmental Performance:

The company also touted its social and environmental performance, and its ambition to “grow responsibly” and share value with its stakeholders, such as through profit-sharing. Their new global “L’Oréal For Youth” program, which targets employees who are under 30, has an ambitious target of 25,000 opportunities per year from 2022 to 2025. Their efforts to support gender parity were also recognized by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. In addition, L’Oréal USA, the company’s largest subsidiary, achieved carbon neutrality for all its sites in 2021. According to L’Oréal, it is the only company in the world to have been awarded a AAA score by CDP six years in a row, for environmental leadership in tackling climate change, protecting forests and ensuring water security.

2021-2022 Highlights:

In May 2021, Nicolas Hieronimus replaced Jean-Paul Agon as CEO.

In October 2021, Garnier and Walmart teamed up to introduce a new exclusive haircare line focused on the scalp—the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Hair Reset collection. Eco-designed formulas track the biodegradability and water footprint of products. Bottles are made of 100% recycled plastic excluding the pump or cap.

Also in October, L’Oreal launched the Lancôme x Emily in Paris collection—the first time Lancôme teamed up with a popular television series on a limited edition, beauty collection.
In November 2021, L’Oréal received HRH The Prince of Wales’s Terra Carta 2021 Seal, which recognizes global companies driving innovation and demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum toward, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets.

Also in November, L’Oréal Water Saver was named a top innovation of 2021 by TIME Magazine. Developed in partnership with environmental innovation company Gjosa, the L’Oréal Water Saver is a one-of-a kind showerhead that can reduce water consumption by as much as 65%.

In December, L’Oréal was recognized by S&P for its “outstanding sustainability performance,” receiving a score of 85 out of 100, one of the world’s highest Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) ratings.

In January 2022, Garnier announced a “green science led” product innovation in the form of a No Rinse Conditioner, a first for a mass market brand, estimated to save 100 liters of water per tube. The conditioner is produced in one of Garnier’s carbon neutral and state-of-the-art waterloop factories, which make up 18% of Garnier’s production footprint—with the aim of 100% Carbon Neutral industrial sites by 2025 and 100% Waterloop by 2030.

Also in January, Maybelline New York introduced its sustainability program, Conscious Together, which aims to create a more responsible business model for the brand by transforming its processes, innovations, and mindset to reduce its impact on the planet. As far as packaging, all Maybelline plastic packaging will be made from 100% recycled plastic.

In February, David Greenberg was appointed CEO of L’Oréal USA, president of North America zone. Greenberg is the former president of L’Oréal Professional Products Division in North America. He has been with the company for more than 28 years, and is the first American to hold the CEO title at L’Oréal North America.

In March, L’Oréal disclosed a solidarity humanitarian action plan for Ukraine following the Russian invasion, with local and international NGOs to support the growing number of refugees. The beauty giant also donated over $1 million through its L’Oréal Fund for Women.

Also in March, L’Oréal announced a partnership with technology company, Emotiv, to help consumers make accurate and personalized choices around their fragrance desires. The collaboration combines an Emotiv neurotech device with proprietary scents and algorithms by L’Oréal.

In April, for the second year in a row, Forbes named L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers of France as the world’s richest woman. Worth an estimated $74.8 billion, the 68-year-old French citizen is an estimated $1.2 billion richer than a year ago, making her the 14th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. Bettencourt Meyers is the vice chair of the board of L’Oréal, which her grandfather Eugène Paul Louis Schueller, a chemist, founded in 1909.

In July, L’Oréal Group’s North Asia Zone became the first of the company’s zones worldwide to achieve carbon neutrality across all operated sites, plants, distribution centers, offices and research & innovation centers spanning five geographic markets of Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In August, L’Oréal opened a second state-of-the-art U.S. headquarters in Southern California. The 100,000 square foot campus unites L’Oréal USA’s West Coast brands NYX Professional Makeup, Pulp Riot, Urban Decay and Youth to the People, and is also home to L’Oréal’s first-ever West Coast-based Professional Products Academy.

Looking Ahead:

L’Oréal continued on its highly successful course, posting strong first-half sales, and reporting gains in all geographic zones, divisions and product categories. Sales in the first half of 2022 rose nearly 21% percent. Company sales reached $19.3 billion in the six months ended June 30, an increase of 13.5% like-for-like.

In a statement, Hieronimus said, “After two years of the pandemic, consumers confirm their desire to socialize and indulge themselves with innovative and superior beauty products, which in turn is fueling the growth of the beauty market.” He added: “L’Oréal grew twice as fast as the market and has strengthened its position as the world’s number-one beauty company.”

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