Beiersdorf lifts outlook as it celebrates "strong" first quarter

Beiersdorf has raised its full-year guidance after experiencing "strong" sales growth across its consumer business segment.

The owner of Nivea and Eucerin saw sales rise 5% to £2.2 billion (€2.6 billion) in the first quarter, compared to £2 billion (€2.4 billion) in 2023.

As part of this, the company's consumer business segment reported sales growth of 7.3% to £1.8 billion (€2.2 billion), driven by a "stellar" sales performance at Nivea for the period ending 31 March.

Fueled by balanced pricing and volume growth, Nivea saw sales rise across all regions and posted its most significant growth in Europe. This was led by the brand's sun care, deodorant and face care categories, as well as the continued success of its Luminous product range.

Meanwhile, derma brands Eucerin and Aquaphor also reported an uplift in sales, with particular success across the sun care category for Eucerin.

La Prairie returned to growth in the first quarter of 2024 too, following challenging external market circumstances in the previous year. Further growth is expected in the second half of the year.

As a result, Beiersdorf has upgraded its full-year guidance for the consumer business segment and now expects organic sales growth of 6–8%.

The company has also raised its guidance at group level, with organic sales growth forecast to be between 6-8% for the full year.

Vincent Warnery, CEO of Beiersdorf: "Beiersdorf is off to an outstanding start in 2024. All our main consumer brands achieved growth in the first quarter.

"This performance level in the first quarter is reinforcing our continued aspiration of profitable growth, and we are therefore raising our sales guidance for the full year."

The latest trading update comes after Nivea surpassed €5 billion in sales for the first time in its 113-year history, as Beiersdorf achieved record sales growth of 10.8% to £8.1 billion (€9.5 billion) last year.