Nivea Maker Beiersdorf Upbeat As Demand Roars Past Pre-Pandemic Levels

By Donna Ahern
Nivea Maker Beiersdorf Upbeat As Demand Roars Past Pre-Pandemic Levels

Nivea maker Beiersdorf expects its 2021 group sales to rise by close to 10% this year, it said on Thursday, as strong demand for adhesives and its dermatological brands pushed its first-half revenues above pre-pandemic levels.

"This is the momentum we want to use going forward," Beiersdorf's new Chief Executive Vincent Warnery said in a statement.

Under his predecessor Stefan de Loecker, Beiersdorf invested more in its consumer business to revive slowing sales growth and bought U.S. sun care brand Coppertone from Bayer for $550 million to strengthen its position in North America.

Organic Sales Jump 

Organic sales jumped by 28.3% in the second quarter, bringing growth for the first half to 16.2%. Six-month revenues of €3.87 billion were a tad above consensus for €3.82 billion according to Refinitiv IBES data.

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The Hamburg-based firm said it sees full-year group sales growing by a high single-digit percentage, having previously said only that it saw positive sales growth for 2021.

Beiersdorf's first-half margin on EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) widened to 15.3% from 13.7%. For the full year, however, it expects the margin to remain flat from 2020 due to rising material prices and investments in digitisation and innovation.

Shares in Beiersdorf rose 1.6% in early trade.

News by Reuters edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more A Brands stories click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.

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