Nivea maker Beiersdorf raised its full-year sales guidance on Wednesday, as it reported a 12.2 percent hike in preliminary organic group sales in the first quarter, driven by its consumer business unit.

The German company now expects organic sales growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range versus the mid-single-digit range growth it had forecast previously.

According to preliminary figures, organic group sales came in at €2.48 billion ($2.71 billion) in the first quarter, above the €2.22 billion it reported a year earlier.

Organic sales in the consumer business segment rose 14.8 percent year-on-year.

For the unit, the group now expects organic sales growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range as well, while it confirmed organic sales growth in a mid-single-digit range for its Tesa division. It confirmed its earlier annual forecast for margin on core profit.

Beiersdorf is scheduled to publish its results for the first three months of 2023 on April 26.

By Linda Pasquini, Editor Friederike Heine

Learn more:

Beiersdorf Expects Skincare Market to Recover in 2022

The company said it expects sales to rise about 5 percent in 2022 after it reported a strong end to 2021.