L'Oreal to see growth in profit this year

The continued robust growth in China, especially of e-commerce platforms, helped French cosmetics group L'Oreal to post impressive results during the first six months of this year, according to company officials.

The group's like-for-like revenue increased 7.3 percent year-on-year during the first half of 2019 to 4.81 billion euros ($5.36 billion), which was the highest half-year growth in a decade. The first half-year growth rate is calculated at 10.6 percent, excluding all other factors such as exchange rate. Operating profit increased 12.1 percent to 2.9 billion euros, while operating margin hit a record high of 19.5 percent.

"In a volatile and contrasting environment, the good first half gives us confidence in our capacity to outperform the market in 2019 and achieve another year of growth in sales and profits," said Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and chief executive officer of L'Oreal group.