Beiersdorf
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Hamburg, Germany-based marketer of Eucerin, Nivea and La Prairie skin-care lines reported a 38% drop in earnings to €380 mil., or $517 mil., for fiscal 2009. Sales in its consumer segment totaled roughly €5 bil., or $6.8 bil., a 2.2% decline from prior year, with currency fluctuations. Eucerin led the way for Beiersdorf's lines, with 6.5% global growth. Nivea posted gain of 1.3%, while firm's luxury La Prairie franchise experienced an 8.7% decline. Sales in the firm's consumer segment rose 13.3% in Latin America for the year. In a March 4 release, Chairman Thomas-B. Quass suggested firm is well-positioned for new market reality following the economic crisis, but noted it will "need to be even more flexible and focus even more strongly on [its] core competencies in the future.