The Nivea manufacturer Beiersdorf ended the financial year with growth not seen in two decades. But this development is not permanent. This year, the people of Hamburg expect smaller steps again.
Thanks to strong growth in the cosmetics business, Beiersdorf has had one of the best financial years in its recent history and is cautiously optimistic about the future. "2022 was an outstanding year for Beiersdorf with remarkable results in both the Consumer and Tesa business sectors," said CEO Vincent Warnery. Beiersdorf has achieved double-digit organic sales growth for the first time in two decades.
With group sales growing organically by a good ten percent to 8.8 billion euros last year, the operating result before special items jumped by almost a fifth to around 1.2 billion euros, as the company announced in Hamburg. According to data from Refinitiv, analysts had expected growth of this magnitude on average. The operating return rose slightly to 13.2 percent. The bottom line was a profit of 771 million euros after 655 million euros a year earlier. Despite the brilliant business, the shareholders are to receive a dividend of 70 cents per share, as in previous years.
For this year, the group forecast growth in the mid-single digits with a margin increase of half a percentage point in the cosmetics business with brands such as Nivea, Eucerin, Hansaplast and La Prairie. The smaller adhesives division, Tesa, is also expected to increase sales in the mid-single digits. However, the return (EBIT margin) will be slightly below that of the previous year (2022: 16.7 percent) due to continued high investments. Overall, the group is aiming for a return slightly above that of the previous year.
