The sales of the L'Oréal group, at December 31st 2007, amounted to 17.063 billion euros, an increase of + 8.1% (based on reported figures). Like-for-like (i.e. based on a comparable structure and identical exchange rates), the increase in the group's sales was + 8.0 %.
The impact of changes in consolidation, as a result of the acquisitions of The Body Shop, Sanoflore, Beauty Alliance, PureOlogy and Maly's West, amounted to + 3.6%. The currency fluctuations had a negative impact of -3.5% for the full year 2007. Growth excluding the exchange rate impact was + 11.6%.
Commenting on these figures, Mr. Jean-Paul Agon, Chief Executive Officer of L'Oréal, said: "We achieved a quite exceptional 4th quarter, bolstered by a large number of initiatives, enabling us to end 2007 at +8%, right at the top of our target range.
All the Divisions proved highly successful and made strong contributions to this result. All the zones played a part in this achievement. Western Europe confirmed its return to growth; performance in North America was satisfactory over the year as a whole; and our growth in the Rest of the World accelerated, with very strong increases in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
This solid organic growth, together with several strategic acquisitions, mean that the group has once again advanced significantly faster than the worldwide cosmetics market.
Overall, and despite the negative impact of exchange rates which was more pronounced in the 4th quarter, we are confirming our target of double-digit net earnings per share growth."