Hamburg, January 8, 2018 – Beiersdorf once
again recorded strong sales growth in 2017 while further increasing market
share. The business segments Consumer and tesa both contributed to this dynamic
performance. Beiersdorf’s sales grew steadily throughout the early months of
2017, followed by a strong increase against an industry trend in the third
quarter and further accelerating sales growth in the fourth quarter. According
to preliminary, unaudited figures, organic Group sales were up 5.7%. In nominal
terms, they rose by 4.5%, from €6.752 billion to a record €7.055 billion. The
Consumer Business Segment achieved organic sales growth of 4.7%. tesa underlined
its excellent market position by increasing sales by 10.6%.
Beiersdorf expects the EBIT margins for
the group and for the Consumer business segment to be slightly above previous
year, and for the tesa business segment to be significantly above last year’s. Profit
after tax margin is expected to be around 10%. The difference compared to last
year is driven by the absence of one-time profits incurred in 2016 as well as losses
from FX and financial investments in 2017. Final income and earnings figures will not be available until the 2017
financial statements are prepared.
“Beiersdorf is very well
positioned with its business model and internationally renowned brands, as is
clearly shown by our sales performance in 2017. A high level of efficiency and our ability to adapt to changes in the
markets quickly are key assets of our company. Our achievements are the result of hard work
done over the past few years and the systematic implementation of our business
strategy. While the global markets are expected to remain volatile and
challenging, we have good reason to be cautiously optimistic as we start into
2018,” said Stefan F. Heidenreich, CEO Beiersdorf AG.