The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
PARIS, France — French cosmetics maker L'Oréal confirms it is considering the sale of its retail unit The Body Shop.
In the company's earnings release, chief executive officer Jean-Paul Agon said "it has been decided to explore all strategic options" for the subsidiary, but that the company had made no decisions yet. The Financial Times had earlier reported that the business could be sold for about €1 billion ($1.1 billion).
The Body Shop has not performed as well as the wider company, with a 6-percent decline in sales in the fourth quarter of 2016. L'Oréal's overall sales rose 5 percent in the same period.
Its net income, however, fell to €3.1 billion last year from €3.3 billion in 2015 due to one-time charges it booked.
The company reported a long-awaited lift in net sales in its third quarter results, with increases from skincare leading the way, but clouds persist over its China recovery.
As awareness grows about the perils of sleep deprivation, beauty and wellness brands are flooding the market with an array of products to cash in on the booming opportunity.
Going public is usually a pivotal moment in a company’s history, cementing its heavyweight status and setting it up for expansion. In L’Occitane’s case, delisting might be a bigger conduit for growth.
Brands say they’re barreling ahead with marketing and commerce on the app, even as the clock starts ticking for owner ByteDance to sell it or shut it down.