Beiersdorf beats pre-pandemic sales with £6.3 billion in 2021

The Beiersdorf group, which owns beauty and skincare labels Nivea, Eucerin, La Prairie and deodorant brand 8x4, grew sales to £6.3 billion (€7.6 billion) in 2021, beating pre-pandemic levels.

The group's earnings before interest and tax rose to £828 million (€993 million), with consolidated margins of 13%.

The largest growth was reported in the group's selective cosmetics segment, with demand for La Prairie increasing by 20.1%. Beiersdorf said this was driven by a recovery in travel retail business, which was hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The derma unit also performed well, posting high sales growth and standout revenue growth from the Eucerin and Aquaphor brands. The consumer business segment further posted strong results of £5.1 billion (€6.1 billion) in 2021, up by 8,8% against 2020. A growing e-commerce business contributed to these results, which increased by 32% in the year.

Core brand Nivea recorded organic sales growth of 5.5% in 2021 with the Nivea Cellular 630 product range, which includes creams and serums that fight dark spots, performing extremely well.

For 2022 Beiersdorf expects sales growth to be in the mid single-digit range, with consolidated EBIT margin from ongoing operations expected to be around last year’s level. It added, however, that COVID-19-related challenges and "an unusually high degree of uncertainty" limited its ability to make reliable forecasts.

Vincent Warnery, CEO of Beiersdorf commented: “2021 was not only a financially successful fiscal year for Beiersdorf, but also a year in which we took highly promising strategic steps to lay the groundwork for our future. We made very good progress in all areas of our C.A.R.E.+ strategy. We tapped new and attractive growth potential, enhanced our capacity to innovate, and achieved major milestones as part of our digital and sustainable transformation – despite many adverse circumstances resulting particularly from the coronavirus pandemic and higher material and transport costs.”

Astrid Hermann, CFO of Beiersdor added: “We are very satisfied about how our key financial figures have come along. We increased the Group’s profitability and demonstrated our great resilience in the face of the turbulent developments brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Despite rising material and transport costs and large investments we made once again as part of C.A.R.E.+, our gross margin has remained largely constant.”