The Consumer
Business Segment generated organic sales growth of 4.2% in the reporting
period. Sales and market shares increased in both the mature European markets
and the emerging markets. At €3.905 billion, nominal sales were up 0.6% on the
prior-year figure of €3.883 billion. NIVEA achieved growth of 5.7%, Eucerin
delivered 6.7% growth and La Prairie 4.0%. EBIT excluding special factors
improved to €529 million, up from €510 million in the previous year. The
corresponding EBIT margin was 13.5% compared with 13.1% in the prior year.
Organic sales growth across the individual regions was as
follows:
In Europe, sales grew by 1.8%. The growth rate in Western
Europe was 1.0%. In Eastern Europe, Beiersdorf generated sales growth of 5.1%.
Sales in the Americas region also performed well, with
growth amounting to 5.4%. Latin America saw a 6.5% increase in sales. In North
America sales growth of 3.6% was achieved.
Beiersdorf further increased sales in the
Africa/Asia/Australia region, which saw a rise of 8.5% despite a slowdown in
economic growth in some markets in the past few months.