Business
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 12, 2004
L'Oreal sales reached US$180m in China last year
L'Oreal (China) Co., Ltd. reported a sales value of 1.5 billion yuan (US$180 million) in 2003, 70 percent more than the previous year.
The growth in sales on the Chinese market was the highest of all L'Oreal companies in various parts of the world, said Paolo Gasparrini, president of L'Oreal (China) Co. Ltd.
L'Oreal, headquartered in Paris, is the world's largest beauty products firm with 500 types of products under the brand name. The company's global sales value totaled 14 billion euros last year, up by 7.1 percent over the previous year.
Since landing on the Chinese market in 1997, L'Oreal has invested US$120 million to expand the market share. It has purchased three famous Chinese cosmetic companies including Yue-Sai and Mininurse and built production bases in Suzhou and Yichang cities and Shanghai-based Pudong New District.
The company began to earn profits in 2003 in China, indicating that it had entered an earning phase, Gasparrini said.
L'Oreal will open its fourth product development center in Shanghai this year to develop hair-dyeing and protection products catering to the special needs of Chinese consumers. The other three centers are located in Paris, New York and Tokyo.
Currently, there are 12 brands of L'Oreal products sold in China. The sales of Maybelline brand lipstick account for a quarter of the market share of lipsticks in China.
Source: China Daily
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