EXTRACT FROM SPEECH BY THE CEO
The key takeaway this year is the exceptional resilience of our multipolar model.
Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Shareholders,
L’Oréal has never been so strong and successful. 2023 was a great year that demonstrated the resilience and agility of the L’Oréal model: we strengthened our position as the world’s No.1 beauty company, surpassing the symbolic milestone of €40 billion in sales.
This performance is all the more remarkable in that it allowed us to grow 1.4 times faster than an extremely dynamic beauty market in 2023, which grew by +8%. The key takeaway this year is the exceptional resilience of our multipolar model, which enabled us to achieve a third consecutive year of double-digit growth (+11% like-for-like(1)) in a world more uncertain and fragmented than ever.
Our excellent results would not have been possible without the success of our product innovations launched in 2023, reflecting the unparalleled creativity of our Marketing, Research and Operations teams. Their creativity was key to creating both financial and non-financial value. As you know, at L’Oréal, economic performance and social and environmental exemplarity form the foundations of our profitable and sustainable value creation strategy and guide our long-term investment decisions.
There are many growth opportunities for L’Oréal. My confidence in the future stems from a strategic choice that L’Oréal made on day one, to dedicate ourselves to a single business: beauty, all beauty and nothing but beauty. With our unmatched portfolio of 37 global brands, we cover all categories, at all price points, through all distribution channels. We are perfectly positioned to satisfy all beauty desires in their infinite diversity. This portfolio, combined with our multipolar model, enhances our ability to adapt to market realities and seize opportunities wherever they arise.
Our ambition is to invent the future of beauty in tune with the technological revolutions of our age. Science remains a pillar of our strategy. L’Oréal has the greatest research capability in the cosmetics industry. Beauty Tech not only enhances the consumer experience, but it also transforms the way we work. We harness the power of data and artificial intelligence to push the boundaries of creativity.
L’Oréal’s journey is above all a human adventure. Our greatest assets in achieving the ambition we have outlined together are the engagement and creativity of our employees, as well as our collective culture.
For 115 years, our Group has continued to advance, driven by a spirit of progress and innovation, to meet the needs of consumers around the globe in their quest for beauty. True to this mindset, L’Oréal continues to reinvent itself to push the boundaries of beauty.
We face the future with confidence and ambition. Rather than adapting to the transformations ahead, we will actively shape them, to create the beauty that moves the world.”
Nicolas Hieronimus also presented the Group’s climate strategy, which sets out the Group’s short and long-term decarbonisation roadmap with new objectives for 2030 and 2050, validated in April by the Science Based Targets initiative.
“We believe that action to combat climate change can spur innovation. By incorporating these challenges into our strategy now, we can reduce our impact and prepare the company by strengthening our capacity to create long-term value while honing our competitive edge.”
(1) Like-for-like: based on a comparable structure and identical exchange rates.