L'Oréal (OR) Barclays 19th Annual Global Consumer Conference summary

Conference highlights

• The event marked the first year luxury, leisure, and retail were added to the consumer staples roster, with 160 companies participating and a record 15,000 meeting requests over three days.

• Security was heightened, and attendees were encouraged to join breakouts and provide feedback for future improvements.

Key financial performance and growth

• Achieved 6.5% organic sales growth in H1, outpacing the market, with all divisions and regions contributing; emerging markets grew ~10%, developed markets mid- to high-single digits.

• Like-for-like growth reached 6.5% in 1H26, with acceleration over previous periods and outperformance versus the beauty market at 4.5%.

• Gross margin hit a record 74.8%, with strong advertising and promotion investments (+70bps) and improved operating profit at 21.3%.

• E-commerce growth was twice the market rate, up 18% and now 31% of group sales.

• Operating margin rose 20 bps despite increased advertising spend.

Market outlook and regional trends

• Full-year market growth expected at 4.5%-5%, with robust performance in Europe and North America, continued recovery in North Asia, and dynamic SAPMENA region.

• Europe and North America maintain momentum, North Asia sees confirmed recovery, while Latin America remains dynamic and SAPMENA-SSA markets are softer.