Nivea maker Beiersdorf enjoys major sales boost

BERLIN, Aug. 5 (Reuters) – Sales of Nivea maker Beiersdorf (BEIG.DE) rose above pre-pandemic levels as demand for adhesives and its dermatology brands roared back, pushing shares in early trading by more than 5% increased.

Organic sales rose 28.3% in the second quarter to deliver first-half growth of 16.2%, sales of Euro 3.87 billion, slightly above the consensus estimate of 3.82 billion according to data of Refinitiv IBES and the figure for the first half of 2019 of 3.84 billion euros.

Analysts at Jefferies said those numbers “greatly beat their forecasts,” driven by the growth of the Nivea, La Prairie and Derma brands.

Shares of Beiersdorf rose 5.5% at 0735 GMT, having previously reached their highest level since early 2020.

The Hamburg-based company said it expects group sales to grow by a high single digit percentage in 2021, having previously said it saw positive sales growth for 2021.

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

Under his predecessor Stefan de Loecker, Beiersdorf invested more in its consumer business to reinvigorate slowing sales growth and bought US solar products brand Coppertone from Bayer for $550 million to strengthen its position in North America.

Beiersdorf’s margin on EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) for the first half increased from 13.7% to 15.3%. However, for the full year, it expects the margin to remain stable around the 12.9% level in 2020 as a result of rising material prices and investments in digitization and innovation.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne warned that Beiersdorf’s outlook implied a slowdown in the recovery in the second half of the year, along with an “omnipotent decline” in profitability.

Reporting by Maria Sheahan Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Elaine Hardcastle

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