Nivea firm enjoys surge in Q2 profit

Beiersdorf AG, the German maker of Nivea skin creams, said second-quarter profit rose 58 percent from a year earlier, when the company incurred costs to shut warehouses.

Net income climbed to 147 million euros from 93 million euros a year earlier, the Hamburg-based company said.

Sales gained 7.5 percent, matching estimates, on stronger demand in emerging markets from Brazil to India, where economies are growing more quickly than Western Europe and boosting consumer incomes. Beiersdorf is banking on developing countries to help meet a goal of increasing its world market share to 5.5 percent by 2010.