L'Oreal results at pre-pandemic levels in 2021 first half

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal dusted off coronavirus fallout and posted Thursday a strong net profit owing to a rebound in all its regional markets as well as product categories.

In the first six months of 2021, L'Oreal made a net profit of 2.6 billion euros ($3.1 billion), a gain of almost 30 percent from the same period a year earlier, which had suffered a 1.8-billion-euro drop owing to the pandemic.

Turnover jumped by more than 16 percent to 15.2 billion euros, exceeding even the level recorded before Covid-19 struck.

"L'Oreal is significantly outperforming the market, with an exceptional second quarter," chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus said.

For that three-month period from April through June, group sales soared by almost 30 percent to around 7.6 billion euros.

At the end of June, L'Oreal had "returned to its pre-Covid growth rate," with sales for the second quarter gaining 6.6 percent from the same period in 2019, Hieronimus said.

All its activities advanced, the company said with the L'Oreal Luxe line that includes beauty products from Yves Saint Laurent and Giorgio Armani posting a first-half jump in sales of just below 25 percent to around 5.47 billion euros.

It's operating margin reached 19.7 percent, slightly better that during the same period in 2019.