L’Oréal posts 6.8% H1 sales growth, record margins

Investing.com -- L'Oréal SA (EPA: OR) reported its first-half results on Wednesday, with the French beauty giant posting adjusted like-for-like sales growth of 6.5% and a record operating margin of 21.3%.

The company reported sales of €23.77 billion for the six months ended June 30, up 5.8% on a reported basis and 22.4% compared to the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at €7.40, up 4.8% YoY. Net profit excluding non-recurring items reached €3.96 billion, an increase of 4.7%.

The company's gross margin expanded by 10 basis points to 74.8%, while operating margin improved by 20 basis points despite increasing brand investment by 70 basis points.

The company's ADRs rose 3.6% following the results.

"L'Oréal delivered a strong first half," said Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal. "At +6.5% adjusted like-for-like growth, L'Oréal maintained its strong momentum and expanded its outperformance of the global beauty market."

Growth was broad-based across all four divisions. Professional Products delivered the strongest performance with adjusted like-for-like growth of 11.6%, while Dermatological Beauty grew 10.6%. L'Oréal Luxe posted 5.1% adjusted growth, and Consumer Products advanced 4.3%.

By region, SAPMENA-SSA led with 13.8% adjusted like-for-like growth, followed by North America at 6.7% and Europe at 6.1%. North Asia grew 4.6%, with China showing continued recovery in the selective segment.

Operating cash flow reached €3.12 billion, up from €2.74 billion in the first half of 2025. Net debt stood at €12.66 billion as of June 30.

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