L’Oréal sales rise to $38bn driven by Middle East, Africa & South Asia
L’Oréal posted $38bn (€32bn) in sales for the first nine months of 2025, with its core business up 3.4% and overall sales up 1.2%.
Growth was particularly strong in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (SAPMENA–SSA), which rose 11%.
The SAPMENA Zone, established in 2020, combines South Asia Pacific and Middle East–North Africa into a single geographic region. It was created to streamline management, leverage growth opportunities and create synergies across markets with diverse but complementary consumer behaviours.
The region benefited from broad-based growth across all divisions, supported by robust online sales and strong demand in key markets including the GCC, India, Vietnam and Thailand.
Professional Products rose 7.4% like-for-like, driven by premium haircare and the acquisition of Color Wow, while Consumer Products advanced 3.1%, led by haircare and makeup innovations. L’Oréal Luxe increased 2.2%, with fragrances and couture makeup performing strongly, and Dermatological Beauty grew 3.7%, boosted by La Roche-Posay, SkinCeuticals and CeraVe in China and other emerging markets.
L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus highlighted the continuing recovery in North America and mainland China, solid momentum in Europe, and the strength of SAPMENA–SSA, which offset softness in Latin America.
Hieronimus highlighted L’Oréal’s $4.6 (€4bn) strategic partnership with Kering announced this month, including the acquisition of Creed, 50-year fragrance and beauty licenses for Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga and a joint venture in luxury wellness, as a key growth driver.
Recent product innovations, including Air Light Pro, Lancôme Rénergie Nano-Resurfacer and Melasyl.
He expressed confidence in continued market outperformance and another year of growth and improved profitability.
Hieronimus says: “As anticipated, our like-for-like growth continued to sequentially accelerate, reaching +4.9% in the third quarter.
“Progress was broad-based. All regions contributed: the recovery in our two largest markets – the US and mainland China – continued; in a solid market, Europe remained robust; and ongoing strength in SAPMENA-SSA more than offset the softness in Latin America.
“Growth accelerated across all Divisions, as the weight of new launches further increased in the third quarter, fuelled by our Beauty Stimulus Plan.
“We just announced a strategic alliance with Kering, one of the world’s most creative and visionary luxury groups. I am delighted by this partnership: the acquisition of Creed will make us one of the leading players in niche fragrances, and I see enormous potential for growth for the beauty and fragrance licenses of Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, all truly exceptional couture brands. This partnership will further solidify our position as the world’s leading luxury beauty company.
“As we head into the last quarter of the year, I am confident that we will continue to outperform the global beauty market and to achieve another year of growth in sales and an increase in our profitability.”