Beiersdorf Lifted by Strong La Prairie Sales

BERLIN, Germany — Beiersdorf beat its client product rivals on Tuesday by posting a 6.5 p.c rise in first-quarter natural group gross sales, powered by its Tesa adhesives unit and La Prairie premium skincare model, whilst Nivea gross sales slowed.

The Tesa enterprise, which makes adhesives for the automotive and electronics industries, noticed gross sales rise 8.5 p.c, whereas La Prairie jumped 56 p.c, constructing on robust development final 12 months.

Beiersdorf shares have been up 2.7 p.c by 0803 GMT, making them the most important gainer on the German blue-chip index. German rival Henkel, which experiences quarterly figures on Wednesday and likewise makes adhesives, rose 0.9 p.c.

Gross sales of the core Nivea model got here in at simply 1.9 p.c, which analysts stated was the slowest price for 3 years, probably because of weak point in Latin America, the place group gross sales fell a nominal 14 p.c within the quarter.

“We anticipate modest upgrades to consensus at fixed foreign exchange however anticipate the Nivea consequence to be the speaking level,” stated Jefferies analyst Martin Deboo, who charges the inventory “maintain”.

On a convention name for analysts, Chief Govt Stefan Heidenreich stated he noticed mild on the finish of the tunnel in Latin America.

Quarterly gross sales, excluding alternate price results in addition to the affect of acquisitions and divestments, got here in at 1.81 billion euros ($2.16 billion), simply forward of common analyst forecasts, though nominal development was simply 0.4 p.c as a result of robust euro.

Beiersdorf has carried out nicely in opposition to rivals Unilever, the maker of Dove merchandise, and Britain’s Reckitt Benckiser.

The buyer enterprise, which makes Nivea and different skincare manufacturers reminiscent of Eucerin, reported natural gross sales development of 6.1 p.c, however a nominal fall of 0.3 p.c as a result of robust euro wiping out beneficial properties within the Americas.

Gross sales of healthcare, which incorporates its Hansaplast and Elastoplast manufacturers, fell 2.7 p.c.

“Regardless of the present political and financial uncertainty all through some areas, we glance optimistically to the approaching months and subsequently verify our forecast for 2018,” Heidenreich stated in a press release.

Beiersdorf reiterated its forecast for 2018 gross sales development of round 4 p.c, predicting Tesa will document gross sales development of three to 4 p.c and its client merchandise division to develop 4 to five p.c.

By Emma Thomasson; editors: Maria Sheahan and Jon Boyle.